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ENGLISH PLEASURE GARDENS 



^n^^^ 



English Pleasure Gardens 



BY 

ROSE STANDISH NICHOLS 



WITH ELEVEN PLANS DRAWN BY ALLEN H. COX, AND NEARLY 
THREE HUNDRED REPRODUCTIONS OF ORIGINAL PHOTO- 
GRAPHS AND DRAWINGS BY THE AUTHOR 



Neto gorft 
THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 

LONDON : MACMILLAN & CO., Ltd. 
1902 

All rights reserved 



.G7N5 



Y OFJ 



'thh" Library 
congress, 

Two CtlWlio ht.Ch{vHj I 
|CI-A«B(X>XXr. No, 

COPY 8, 



^ 



,^ 



l\j 



Copyright, 1902, 
By the MACMILLAN COMPANY. 



Set up and electrotyped November, 1902. 



Norbioati ^ress 

J. S. Gushing & Co. — Berwick & Smith 
Norwood Masa. U.S.A. 



AUGUSTUS SAINT-GAUDENS 



THE ARGUMENT 

Nature supplies the living material, and this is the 
best part of a garden ; /craft can vary its growth, art can 
accentuate and frame its charm, but its ever changing 
beauty is the gift of God. j 

In the world's history horticulture as a craft has never 
before reached its present state of perfection, and has 
never included such an amazing variety of trees, shrubs, 
and plants. The scientific spirit of the age has im- 
pelled botanists to seek new specimens at the ends of 
the earth and to naturalize the most far-fetched exotics 
on English soil. But if all this wealth of vegetation, 
indigenous and outlandish, is to answer other than 
practical and scientific purposes, it must be taken in 
hand by art as well as by craft and science. To give 
the utmost pleasure to people neither horticulturists 
nor botanists, a collection of plants, forming a garden, 
should be treated as an artistic composition. 

Unfortunately, garden design has not advanced at the 
same rapid pace as horticulture and botany; in fact, 
until within the last few years it has gone backward 
rather than forward in England, ever since the period 



viii THE ARGUMENT 

of the Italian Renaissance, although then as now it 
was the last of the arts to succeed. As Bacon wisely 
predicts, " Man shall ever see that when ages grow to 
Civility and Elegancy : Men come to Build Stately 
sooner than to Garden Fi7iely : As if Gardening were 
the Greater Perfection." 

Ornamental gardening for centuries in Japan has been 
reduced (rather monotonously from our point of view) 
to an almost exact science ; in a different form it was 
practised as a fine art in classic Greece and Rome, was 
revived throughout Europe at the time of the Renais- 
sance, and still continues to be studied in France along 
the same lines under the head of architecture. But in 
England to-day it is not generally understood as more 
than a craft. Theories have been advanced to raise its 
standard, but in such a partisan spirit and from such a 
one-sided standpoint that they have accomplished little. 
Each Englishman who attempts to explain how a gar- 
den should be planned and planted seems to have 
agreed to differ from every other expert who has pre- 
viously expounded his theory on the subject. If two 
garden-designers think alike, the fact has hardly been 
acknowledged, although it may be surmised that their 
differences are more apparent than real. 

The result of this divergence of opinion is that scat- 
tered over England are a great variety of gardens almost 
impossible to classify. Some are planted as if upon 



THE ARGUMENT 



IX 



untrodden Alpine peaks remote from every trace of 
civilization, although in reality a sumptuous mansion 
is not ten feet away. Others are the perfection of 
" mosaiculture," a term invented by a Frenchman to 
denote the most complicated plant patchwork, forming 
the last word of floricultural artificiality. 

Between these two extremes are many delightful gar- 
dens, neither imitations of a wilderness nor rigidly con- 
ventional, where plants can grow freely and people are 
not out of place. Often they have been designed with 
less rhyme than reason, but are only more charming 
because they are useful as well as ornamental, to be 
" Hved in " as well as " looked on." Unlike the crreat 
French gardens, they are not brilliant intellectual 
achievements laboriously constructed to form a vista 
from the windows of a palatial chateau and to afford a 
gay crowd of courtiers a parade-ground ; nor have they 
the melancholy beauty of those early Italian villas whose 
romantic effect has become intensified by neglect and 
decay; at present in their perfection the English gardens 
are in appearance flourishing, of moderate dimensions 
and unassuming style. Their homelike atmosphere 
gives them individuality and a charm more endearing 
than that of other more pretentious performances. Of 
many of the simplest and most pleasing of these no 
examples will be given, either because their pecul- 
iar attraction is due to their skilful adaptation to a 



X THE ARGUMENT 

particular situation and their spirit only could be re- 
produced elsewhere, or because they belong to a class 
existing by every country roadside, of which the general 
scheme is too familiar to require explanation. Others 
have been excluded as being too consequential and 
elaborate to answer any but princely requirements. 

Nothing can be prettier than a cottage garden, or in 
its way perhaps more magnificent than Chatsworth, but 
neither of these comes within the scope of this work. 
One is too practical, the other too ornate. 

The origin and early growth of all gardens are purely 
conjectural, but in their first stages those in England 
were not probably dissimilar to those in other parts 
of uncivilized Europe. In the Middle Ages, after the 
Norman Conquest, they developed certain distinctive 
features. Later they passed more or less under the 
influence of the Italian Renaissance, French, Dutch, 
and Chinese styles, and to understand them it is neces- 
sary to understand the characteristics of these different 
schools. 

As their connection with the manners and customs of 
the day is even more intimate than that of architecture 
proper, to realize their purpose one must be able to 
picture them peopled with the characters, many of them 
historic, who made them what they were in their prime. 

The celebrated gardens are filled with historic asso- 
ciations. Without being able to imagine the life of the 



THE ARGUMENT 



XI 



French court in the eighteenth century, who can appre- 
ciate Versailles? It only exists as a background for 
artifice and artificiality, for elegant ladies, their pow- 
dered hair erected a la Pompadour, their hoop-skirts 
sweeping the broad paths, coquettishly shielding their 
eyes with their painted fans, and gossiping with the 
gentlemen in attendance about, perhaps, the recent dis- 
appearance of the king and the de Montespan down a 
covered alley set aside for the royal flirtations. 

Plans and photographs can only partially show the 
form of these gardens, words are still more inadequate 
to express their spirit, but perhaps some suggestion can 
be given of their arrangement and their charm. 

Acknowledgments are due to so many people, that 
the author cannot even begin to name her indebtedness. 
Garden-owners eveiywhere have thrown open their gates 
with a hospitality which has not been unappreciated, 
while facts have been obtained with and without per- 
mission from almost every writer about gardens, whether 
living or dead. For all these opportunities to add to 
her stock of information she can only say that she is 
truly grateful. 




CONTENTS 



CHAPTER I 

PAGE 

Classic Pleasure Grounds i 



CHAPTER n 
Monastic Gardens 45 

CHAPTER ni 
The MEDiiEVAL Pleasaunce 66 

CHAPTER IV 
Tudor Gardens loi 

CHAPTER V 
The Elizabethan Flower-garden 128 

CHAPTER VI 
Gardens of the Stuarts 167 

CHAPTER VII 
French Fashions 198 

CHAPTER VIII 
Italian Villa Gardens 232 

CHAPTER IX 
Eighteenth-century Extremes 249 

xiii 



XIV 



CONTENTS — LIST OF PLANS 



CHAPTER X 

PAGE 

Modern Gardens 278 

APPENDIX 295 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 301 

INDEX 309 



LIST OF PLANS 



FACING PAGE 

Newstead Abbey (Chapter II) 64 

Penshurst (Chapter III) 96 

LONGLEAT (Chapter IV) 124 

MONTACUTE (Chapter IV) 127 

Levens (Chapter V) 164 

Drayton House (Chapter VJ ) 194 

Melbourne (Chapter VII) 230 

Wilton (Chapter VIII) . 234 

Bowood (Chapter X) 282 

Longford Castle (Chapter X) 292 

APPENDIX 

Ham House 299 



LIST OF FULL-PAGE ILLUSTRATIONS 



The Terrace, Annesley 



Peristyle, House of the Vettii 
Wall-painting of a Garden, Villa Livia . 
Cloisters, St. John Lateran. Rome 
Spanish Garden-courts .... 

Gothic Fountain. From an early tapestry 

Gothic Fountain in the Cloister-garth, Newstead Abbey 

Eagle Pond, Newstead Abbey 

Castle with Terrace Walks. From the " Roman de la Rose 

Tent and " Flowery Mede." From an early tapestry 

Bourgeois Garden. From the " Profits de Rustican " 

Castle Garden. From a picture by Dierick Bouts 

Pleasaunce. From the " Roman de la Rose " 

Garden Scenes. From the " Roman de la Rose " 

Chateau of Gaillon. From '• Les Plus Beaux Bastiments de France " 

Parterre, Penshurst 

Terrace, Haddon Hall 

Grass Alley, Elvaston 

Garden, Longleat . 

Conservatory, Longleat 

The Hall, Bradford-on-Avon 

Topiary Gardens, Levens 

Terraces, St. Catherine's Court 

Grass Steps, St. Catherine's Court 

Garden. From Vredeman's " Hortorum Viridariorumque " 

Cleeve Prior Manor ....... 

Garden. From Vredeman's '' Hortorum Viridariorumque" 
Garden. From Vredeman's " Hortorum Viridariorumque " 
The Parterre. Drayton House ..... 

Botanical Garden, Oxford ...... 



Frontispiece 

FACING PAGE 

25 
28 

47 
52 
54 
60 
62 
68 



74 

80 

82 

86 

92 

94 

98 

102 

104 

123 

126 

128 

132 

139 
142 
144 

'54 
156 
158 
168 

170 



xvi FULL-PAGE ILLUSTRATIONS 

FACING PAGE 

Old-fashioned Garden, Hatfield .172 

Parterre, Hatfield 172 

Circular Garden. From the " Systema Horticulturas " .... 184 

I. Terrace, Annesley. 2. Gateway, Hampton Court .... 186 

I. Sun-dial, Hampton Court. 2. Pleached Alley, Melbourne • . 188 

Fountains. From the " Systema Horticulture " ..... 193 

The Parterre, Drayton House ........ 196 

A French Renaissance Garden ........ 198 

Gardening. From an old manuscript . . . . . . . 200 

French Engravings of Gardens ........ 202 

Bosquet des Domes, Versailles ........ 204 

The Labyrinth, Versailles ......... 206 

Garden-house, Holme Lacey ......... 208 

Trees and Water, Bramham . . . . . . . . .210 

Park, Melbourne . . . . . . ' . . . . .212 

Evergreen Arches, Brockenhurst . . . . . . . .216 

Gateway, Brockenhurst .......... 222 

Steps and Gateway, Brockenhurst ........ 224 

Fountain and Statuary, Brockenhurst ....... 226 

I. A Surprise Fountain. 2. Cedars of Lebanon, Wilton . . . 228 

Fountain, Villa Petraja .......... 232 

Italian Garden, Castle Ashby ........ 236 

I. The Villa Lante. 2. Garden-scene. From a tapestry . . . 238 

Casino, Wilton . . . ... . . . . . . 240 

Garden, Wilton ........... 242 

Palladian Bridge, Wilton ......... 244 

Italian Garden, Shrublands ......... 246 

Terrace, Bowood . . . . . . . . . . .2^8 

Pavilion, Audley End 256 

Gardens, Gunnersbury .......... 268 

Picturesque Planting. Ascott ........ 278 

Modern Garden, Newstead Abbey 282 

Parterre, Castle Ashby .......... 284 

I. Fountain, The Orchards. 2. Park, Newstead Abbey . . . 286 

Fountains at Brockenhurst and Ascott 288 

Kitchen Garden, Newstead Abbey 290 



ILLUSTRATIONS IN THE TEXT 



PAGE 



Asshur-bani-pal feasting under an Arbour (Head-piece) . . . i 

A Greek Pillar Fountain (Initial letter) ...... i 

Romano-British Pavement excavated in Leicestershire .... 4 

An Egyptian Pool. From a mural painting 8 

Garland Weavers. From a Greek vase ...... 14 

Sketch Plan of a Greek Exedra 15 

A Concave Sun-dial in the British Museum 17 

A Potted Plant 19 

A Pompeian Table .......... 20 

A Pattern for Clipped Box. From the " Hypnerotomachia Poliphili " . 22 

A Pompeian Fountain .......... 24 

A Pompeian Bust ........... 25 

Fountain and Arbour. From the " Hypnerotomachia Poliphili " . .26 
Geometric Pattern for a Flower-bed. From the " Hypnerotomachia 

Poliphili" 27 

A Rustic Enclosure .......... 28 

An Exedra on the Street of the Tombs, Pompeii 32 

A Grotto and a Pergola. From a recently discovered wall-painting . 32 

A Fountain surrounded by Domestic Animals. From a Pompeian mosaic 34 
Three-headed Hermes from the " Hypnerotomachia Poliphili " . .37 

A Form of Tree-worship ......... 37 

A Hermes beside a Basin of Water ....... 38 

A Chpped Tree. From the " Hypnerotomachia Poliphili " . . -39 

A Man of Clipped Box. From the " Hypnerotomachia Poliphili " . 39 

The Rhodian Rose. From a coin 41 

The Cretan Labyrinth. From a coin 42 

A Fountain. From the " Hypnerotomachia Poliphili " ... 43 
A Portico. From the " Hypnerotomachia Poliphili " . . . .44 

A Monastic Cloister-garth ......... 45 

xvii 



XVlll 



ILLUSTRATIONS IN TEXT 



of Alexander " 



llumination 



A Monk reading (Initial letter) ..... 
A Circular Garden and Well. From an early manuscript 
Cloisters and Fountain, Monreale near Palermo 
Court of the Lions in the Alhambra 

A Gothic Well 

A Well in the Certosa near Florence 

An Early Type of Fountain .... 

The Grave of Byron's Dog. Newstead Abbey 

Leaden Statue of a Faun, Newstead Abbey . 

Leaden Statue, Newstead Abbey . 

Garland Makers in a Pleasaunce (Head-piece) 

Gothic Fountain (Initial letter) 

Chess-players in a Garden. From the '• Romance 

Two Figures beside a Trelliswork Enclosure 

Maugis and " La Belle Oriande." From an early il 

A Seat, an Arbour, and a Gallery. From an early illumination 

A Gothic Fountain ....... 

A Clipped Tree. From the " Hypnerotomachia Poliphili" 
Diana's Pool, Penshurst ...... 

Montacute (Head-piece) 

A Potted Plant (Initial letter) 

Eyam Hall, Derbyshire ...... 

A Battlemented Doorway . ... 

Garden Doorway, Canons Ashby ..... 

Pond Garden, Hampton Court ..... 

Oblong Garden. From the " Gardener's Labyrinth " , 
Dove-cot, Grafton Manor ...... 

Dove-cot, Milton 

Garden Doorway, Risley ...... 

Square Garden. From the "Gardener's Labyrinth " 

The Four Quarters of a Knot 

Patterns for Knots ....... 

A Clipped Tree. From the " Hypnerotomachia Poliphili " 
A Coronet of Clipped Yew, Elvaston .... 

A Pleached Alley, Hatfield 

A Garden Repast. From the " Gardener's Labyrinth " 



45 
46 

52 

53 
54 
55 
56 
62 
64 

65 
66 
66 

82 
90 

91 
92 

93 
95 
99 

lOI 
lOI 

102 
103 
104 
106 
108 
no 
no 
III 
III 

113 
114 

"5 
116 
117 
117 



ILLUSTRATIONS IN TEXT xix 



PAGE 



An Armillary Sphere, Elvaston 119 

A Pavilion, Longleat . . 122 

A Garden-court. Designed by Vredeman de Vries (Head-piece) . .128 

Two Elizabethan Figures (Initial letter) 128 

A Lion of Carved Stone. The Hall, Bradford-on-Avon . . .129 
Garden-gates, Penshurst . . . . . . . , -130 

Gateway, Packwood 131 

A Circular Dove-cot, Harleston 136 

Terrace Steps, Shrublands ......... 140 

Doorway, Bramshill 140 

Doorway, Oundle, Northamptonshire 141 

Terrace and Bowling-green, Bramshill ........ 141 

Covered Walk, Shrublands 143 

Garden. Designed by Vredeman de Vries 144 

Garden-house, Packwood ......... 145 

Garden-house, Packwood ......... 146 

The Sermon on the Mount, Packwood 146 

Knots. From the "Country Housewife's Garden " .... 149 
Knots. From the " Country Housewife's Garden" .... 149 
The Twelve Apostles, Cleeve Prior Manor . . . . . -153 
A Buttress of Clipped Yew, Arley . . . . . . . • 1 54 

Fountain, Trinity College, Cambridge 155 

Sun-dial, Shrublands 157 

Sun-dial . . . . . . . . . . . -157 

A Knot and a Maze. From the " Country Housewife's Garden" . .158 
Bowling-alley, Brockenhurst . . , . . . . . -159 

Old Orangery, Kew Gardens (Head-piece) 167 

Sun-dial (Initial letter) .......... 167 

Doorway, Highlow Hall, near Hathersage 168 

Fishing-lodge, Beckett, Berkshire . . . . . . . .169 

Sun-dial, Drayton House . . . . . . . . .170 

Pavilion, Hatfield 172 

Pavilion, Hatfield . . . 172 

Side-door to a Garden 174 

Terrace, Brympton 179 

Knots. From the "Jardinier Hollandais" 181 



XX 



ILLUSTRATIONS IN TEXT 



A Leaden Statue of a Shepherd, Canons Ashby 

Plan of Garden. From Rea's " Systema Horticulturae " 

Gateway, Chichester 

Flower-pot Gate-post, Hampton Court 

Gateway, Packwood 

An Alcove, Arley . 

A Dutch Arbour . 

Garden-seat, Haddon Hall 

Garden-seat, Canons Ashby 

Octagonal Garden-house, Bramshill 

Octagonal Garden-house, Bradford-on-Avon 

Sun-dial, Trinity College 

Sun-dial, Packwood 

Fountain, Hampton Court 

Fountain, Bowood 

Garden-house, Packwood 

Garden-house, Packwood 

Wrought-iron Grille, Drayton House 

Gateway, Drayton House 

Stone St^ps, Drayton House 

Sun-dial, Brympton 

Gateway, Kew Gardens 

Gates by Tijou (Head-piece) 

A Vase (Initial letter) . 

Leaden Urn, Penshurst 

Cupid, Melbourne . 

Wrought-iron Gate, by Tijou, Hampton Court 

Sun-dial, Hampton Court 

Bird-cage, Melbourne . 

Sun-dial, Levens . 

Gateway, Kew Gardens 

Leaden Busts, Elvaston 

Cupid, Melbourne . 

Forecourt Wall, Ham House (Head-piece) 

A Fountain (Initial letter) 

Fountain by Verrocchio, Palazzo Vecchio, Florence 



ILLUSTRATIONS IN TEXT xxi 

PAGE 

A Venetian Garden Pavilion 2^-j 

Statue of Boy with Dolphin for a Fountain 234 

An Arbour. From the " Hypnerotomachia Poliphili " . . . . 234 

Doorway, Villa Madama 231; 

Doorway, Cambridge . . . . . . . . , .236 

Fountain, Alhambra 237 

Shrub in Ornamented Box. " Hypnerotomachia Poliphili " . . . 237 

Caryatides, Villa Farnese, Caprarola 238 

Gateway. Shrublands . . . . . . . . , . -'-'q 

Gateway, Castle Ashby 240 

Column, Wilton 240 

Trees and Seat, Wilton 241 

Vase, Wilton 241 

An Exedra, Wilton 



242 

Amorini, Wilton 242 

Holbein Pavilion, Wilton 243 

Palladian Bridge, Wilton 244 

Vase, Shrublands 244 

Stone Seat, Shrublands •••...... 24c 

Archway, Castle Ashby 241; 

Vase, Castle Ashby ^ _ 246 

Rosary with Pergola, Castle Ashby 246 

Rustic Pergola, Castle Ashby 247 

Statuary, Longford Castle 247 

Vase, Longford Castle 248 

Pergola, Longford Castle 248 

Temple at Tivoli. From a painting by Claude Lorraine (Head-piece) . 249 

Romantic Landscape (Initial letter) 249 

An Eighteenth-century Sun-dial 250 

A Dutch Arbour . . . . . . , . _ _ . -'cq 

A Dutch Arbour . . . . . . . . . ^ . 2!;i 

Classic Vase, Elvaston . . . . . . , . . .21:2 

Temple of yEolus, Kew 267 

Temple of the Sun, Kew 268 

Gothic Dairy, Hoddesdon 274 

Temple. Kew 277 



xxii ILLUSTRATIONS IN TEXT 

PAGE 

Garden-house and Wall, The Orchards (Head-piece) .... 278 

Hermes and Fence (Initial letter) 278 

Doorway, Shniblands .......... 279 

Topiary Work, Melbourne 284 

Archway of Yew, Brockenhurst 287 

Sun-dial, Penshurst 288 

Sun-dial, Old Place, Lingfield 288 

Pond in North Garden, Barrow Court ....... 290 

Gateway and Terrace, Barrow Court . . . . . . .291 

Pavilion, Barrow Court . . . . . . . . .291 

Garden-house, Castle Ashby 292 

Seat of Italian Design, Shrublands 293 

Forecourt, Ham House 299 



ENGLISH PLEASURE GARDENS 




English Pleasure Gardens 



CHAPTER I 




CLASSIC PLEASURE GROUNDS 

T is not such a far cry as might be 
imagined from the famous pleasure 
1| grounds of remote antiquity to the gar- 
dens, both " wild " and " formal," in 
England at the present day. Our en- 
vironment more closely resembles the luxurious sur- The connec- 
tion be- 
roundings of our Roman conquerors than the comfortless tweenthe 

P'^st and 

domams of our own forefathers after they were freed present, 
from the Roman yoke and had lost sight of Roman 
culture. Without much effort we modern Anglo-Saxons 
in England or America can picture ourselves revelling 
in an elegant Pompeian villa or in an airy Athenian 
peristyle ; but we should dread being doomed to suf- 
focate in a smoky ancestral hut or to be cooped up in 



2 ENGLISH PLEASURE GARDENS 

the thick, almost windowless walls of an Anglo-Norman 
fortalice. Precedents not ours by direct inheritance 
have become so by adoption. 
Classic yEsthetically, we are still held fast by classic tradi- 

ments. tions, taught the Britons by the Romans early in the 

Christian era, degraded, if not utterly destroyed, during 
the Dark Ages, but revived at the time of the Renais- 
sance. To see our sense of beauty expressed in perfect 
form, we continue to look back to the masterpieces of 
the Greeks and Romans. It is to them that we turn 
now to find the derivation of many charming details 
in addition to the general plan of the formal garden. 
Hundreds, almost thousands, of years ago the classic 
garden makers realized our ideals, combining architecture 
with sculpture and horticulture to produce gardens un- 
surpassed in the perfection of their design. A lack 
of our variety and abundance of flowers was their only 
deficiency. 

A knowledge of the arts and sciences spread with the 
Thedissemi- growtli of the Roman provinces throughout Europe. 

nation of ... . , . . 

Roman CiviHzation made great progress in Great Britain after 

the conquest of Claudius ; architecture and horticulture 
were practised from both an ornamental and a useful 
standpoint. Villas, or country seats, including extensive 
residences with spacious courtyards, vineyards, orchards, 
kitchen and pleasure gardens, were laid out all over 
the province. These constructions were similar to those 



culture. 



CLASSIC PLEASURE GROUNDS 3 

relinquished by the Romans in Italy, and hardly less 
carefully finished, though on a somewhat smaller scale. 
In Great Britain, the contemporary description of 
Tacitus relates that, even before the close of the first 
century, there were plantations of luxuriant vegetation. 
The olive and the vine seem to have been the only 
fruits for which he considered the climate unsuitable. 
Later however, there were vineyards, and, when the Horticulture 

' under the 

Romans were at the height of their power, almost every Romans m 

. Britain, 

kind of fruit now cultivated in Northern Europe, with 
the exception of pine-apples, gooseberries, currants, and 
raspberries, is said to have flourished. Thirty-eight 
Anglo-Saxon and English names of plants are dis- 
tinctly of Roman origin, among them the rose, lily, 
poppy, mallow, laurel, mulberry, and feverfew. 

Unfortunately, no equally interesting records of the Bntanno- 

, Roman 

architecture in Britanno-Roman gardens have been reiica. 
handed down to us. But we can form some idea of 
the extent of ground covered with lavishly ornamented 
plantations from the general outlines of the villas and 
from the elegance of the architectural remains exca- 
vated on their sites. Statues, vases, and fountains of 
marble and bronze, almost as fine as those in Italy, have 
not infrequently been discovered. Numbers of the most 
remarkable of these relics are on exhibition in the Brit- 
ish Museum and elsewhere. Others remain in situ. 
Mosaic pavements, formerly ornamenting the living 



4 ENGLISH PLEASURE GARDENS 

rooms, the peristyle, and other courtyards, are found in 
excellent condition. These were composed of tessellce, or 
small cubes of coloured marble, forming geometrical de- 



r/aU^W l> II. 




-LStCESr£R. 






signs or depicting scenes from everyday life or mythol- 
ogy. Such mosaics were called opera segmentata, opus 
Mosaic musivum and musaceum. The illustration shows a good 

pavement, specimen, which was unearthed near Leicester in 1754. 



CLASSIC PLEASURE GROUNDS 5 

It is Graeco-Roman in style, like most of the Romano- 
British art. The labyrinth or fret border enclosing the 
design is of very ancient origin, and may be intended 
to suggest the celebrated labyrinth of Crete. On other 
mosaics the story of Theseus, Ariadne, and the Minotaur 
has been obviously reproduced. The axe of Lycurgus 
also forms part of many designs. Modern repro- 
ductions of these mosaics are commonly placed in the 
hallways of houses and on the thresholds of shops; 
even more appropriately they might be made to pave 
the paths, or to inlay the basin of a fountain in a 
formal garden. 

To obtain a more complete picture of the Romano- Thedenya- 

,-...,, 1 . . tion and 

British gardens we must return to their prototypes in mutability 
Italy, and thence inquire into the gardens of those coun- gardens*" 
tries which inspired Rome during the centuries before 
Christ. Horticulture in primitive Italy, as in other un- 
civilized countries, was at its beginning merely intended 
for practical purposes. But autres temps, autres mceurs. 
Gradually the Latin word /tortus, applied in the days 
of republican simplicity to a field of vegetables, was 
stretched to signify in the plural, at the time of the 
luxurious emperors, pleasure gardens of the utmost 
magnificence. At this latter period the source of every 
new form of Roman art, including garden-architecture, 
was Greece, which in its turn had received inspiration 
from Egypt, Persia, and Assyria. 



ENGLISH PLEASURE GARDENS 



Religious 
symbols in 
pre-Chris- 
tian gar- 
dens. 



Egyptian 

garden 

courts. 



A religious significance was attached to almost every 
feature in these pre-Christian gardens. Beasts and 
birds might be the living incarnations of the gods for 
whom they stood as representatives, while trees and 
flowers were revered as godlike attributes. In Egypt, 
the cat was as closely connected with Isis, as the peacock 
in Italy with Juno, or doves in Greece with Aphrodite. 
Tree worship was observed in all these countries. Count 
Goblet d'Alviella says in the " Migration des Symboles," 
that the sacred tree as it migrated from country to 
country was changed into that which was most precious 
in the estimation of the people. Thus the date-palm in 
Chaldea, the vine or the fir tree in Assyria, the lotus 
in Egypt, and the fig in India were regarded with the 
utmost veneration. 

Egyptian gardens are the earliest of which definite 
records remain. Pictures and inscriptions, dating far 
back in the centuries before Christ, show that every 
Egyptian dwelling was built around a series of court- 
yards containing vegetation both useful and ornamen- 
tal. Originally, a row of trees along the inner wall 
of the building shaded it and the enclosed quadrangle. 
Later, the tree trunks gave place to solid columns, 
and the overhanging branches to projecting rafters, 
which resulted in a general effect foreshadowing 
the Greek peristyle and the monastic cloisters. In 
the centre of the quadrangle was a fountain or a 



CLASSIC PLEASURE GROUNDS 7 

basin for fish, where many-coloured lotuses rose above 
the level of the water. Grape-vines and ivy, entwin- 
ing the columns and clustering over the rafters, formed 
a shady tunnel on the outer edge of the area, while 
blossoming plants, set out symmetrically, brightened 
the inner space. Roses, jessamine, myrtle, and cistus, 
growing directly in the soil or cultivated in flower-pots, 
presented a simple conception of a floral parterre. 

Secluded in these courtyards the ladies of the harem 
loitered, with their pet monkeys for playmates, under 
the shady colonnade or beside the cool fountain, then 
as now jealously guarded from any contact with the Reason for 

seclusion. 

outer world. At a very early period, therefore, the idea 
of seclusion came to be connected with Oriental pleas- 
ure grounds, as it was later with those of the Greeks 
and Romans, with the mediaeval pleasaunce, the mo- 
nastic cloister-garth, and the garden called old-fashioned 
nowadays. 

When Egyptian horticulture flourished extensively — 
from the eighth to the third centuries before Christ — 
plantations overran the courtyards and spread into the 
grounds without. The scheme of these plantations 
has often been found incised upon ancient blocks of 
stone. It appears to have consisted of a collection of 
walled, rectangular parallelograms, covering many acres. 
Among these interesting representations is the plan 
of a garden belonging to one of the Pharaohs engraved 



8 



ENGLISH PLEASURE GARDENS 



Plan of 
garden at 
Tel-el- 
Amama. 



Mural 
paintings. 



upon part of the tomb of Tel-el- A marna, formerly ex- 
hibited at the British Museum. Riat, in " L'Art des 
Jardins," says of this : " The plantation, as was usually 
the case, lay near the Nile to facilitate its irrigation, and 
was divided by walls into sections, each devoted to a 
special culture. In the centre lies a rectangular basin 
occupied by fish and ducks and tufted with lotuses. 
A fringe of trees — dates, sycamores, and palms — 
veils the boundary walls of the enclosure, containing 
within many other species, such as figs, pomegranates, 
willows, acacias, and tamarisks. A large door flanked 
by two smaller ones, as was common, formed the main 

entrance. Sev- 
eral kiosks, near 
the basins or 
under the shade, 
were inviting for 
a peaceful siesta." 
Dating from 

about 1500 B.C. various mural paintings in tempera 
show garden scenes where, beside the fish-ponds or 
under the palm trees and sycamores, guests are being 
entertained by musicians playing on the flute and 
by dancing girls. One especially interesting example, 
preserved at the British Museum, shows a gentle- 
man with two companions in a boat like a gondola 
towed by slaves along an oblong-shaped pond, over- 



^ MifM^M^-,^!&M& :S0 




CLASSIC PLEASURE GROUNDS 9 

hung by several rows of trees. Another, sketched in 
the illustration, depicts a similar pond on a smaller 
scale, where fish and ducks disport themselves among 
the sacred lotuses. 

In ancient Egyptian literature, gardens are often 
poetically described as the meeting place of lotus- 
eating lovers, whose " flowery food caused sweet for- 
getfulness." The following extract is from a poem 
written about 1300 B.C. 

A poetical 
" She led me, hand in hand, and we went into her garden to converse description. 

together. 
There she made me taste of excellent honey. 

The rushes of the garden were verdant, and all its bushes flourishing. 
There were currant trees and cherries redder than rubies. 
The ripe peaches ^ of the garden resembled bronze, and the groves had 

the lustre of the stone nashem? 
The mennP unshelled like cocoanuts they brought to us ; its shade 

was fresh and airy, and soft for the repose of love. 
' Come to me,' she called unto me, * and enjoy thyself a day in the room 

of a young girl who belongs to me, the garden is to-day in its 

glory ; there is a terrace and a parlour.' " 

— "The Tale of the Garden of Flowers," translated by M. Fran9ois Chabas 
(" Records of the Past," Egyptian texts). 

Assyrian 
/-p., - . , . , . ai^d Persian 

The Assyrians and Persians, whose intercourse with influence, 
the Egyptians was intimate at least fourteen centuries 
before Christ, were celebrated for their marvellous 

^ The Persea fruit, a species of sacred almond. 

2 Green felspar. ^ An unknown fruit. 



lo ENGLISH PLEASURE GARDENS 

gardens at a very early period, and passed on a share 
of their knowledge to the Greeks and Romans. Pliny 
says in his " Natural History " as it was translated 
by P. Holland at the time of the Renaissance, " The 
Syrians are great Gardiners, they take exceeding 
pains and bee most anxious in gardening ; whereupon 
arose the proverb in Greek to this effect, ' Many 
Woorts and Pot-herbs in Syria.' " 

These Eastern pleasure grounds were known to 
the Greeks as paradeisoi {TrapdSeLo-oL). Sir William 
The Oriental Temple in the " Garden of Epicurus " writes : — 

Paradise. ,, t-. t i i i o 

" A Paradise seems to have been a large Space 
of Ground adorned and beautified with all Sorts of 
Trees both of Fruits and of Forest, either found there 
before it was enclosed or planted after; either culti- 
vated like gardens for Shade and for walks with 
Fountains or Streams and all sorts of Plants usual in 
the Climate and pleasant to the Eye, the Smell or the 
Taste ; or else employed like our Parks for Inclosure 
and Harbour of all sorts of Wild Beasts, as well as 
for the Pleasure of Riding and Walking : And so 
they were of more or less extent and of differing 
Entertainment according to the several Humours of 
the Princes that ordered and inclosed them." 

There are several representations of such paradeisoi 
incised on marble slabs brought from Kouyunjik to 
the British Museum. The most interesting of these is 



CLASSIC PLEASURE GROUNDS ii 

placed on the east wall of the Assyrian basement, and Asshur- 

. . bani-pal 

depicts a grove of trees where both King Asshur-bani- banqueting 

, , . . , II* • • 1 • 1 under a 

pal rechnmg upon a couch and his queen sitting beside bower, 
him erect in an arm-chair are banqueting. Above, a 
bower of grape-vine shades their heads, and behind 
each stand attendants waving fans to cool the air. 
Others bring plates of food and play upon musical 
instruments. Birds are perched on the trees, a part 
of whose foliage is being devoured by a huge grass- 
hopper, while from one of the branches swings the cap- 
tured head of an enemy.^ 

At Babylon, the Hanging Gardens built or restored 
under the Persian dynasty in the sixth century b.c, 
famous as one of the Seven Wonders of the world, 
were located in the heart of a crowded city and 
raised above the traffic of the streets upon massive The Hanging 

Gardens at 

arcades. The gardens were formed of four terraces Babylon, 
covered with trees, shrubs, and flowers. Each terrace 
diminished in extent as its height above the ground 
increased ; thus the shape of the whole had somewhat 
the appearance of a pyramid. Strabo mentions the 
lowest of these platforms or terraces as being four hun- 
dred feet square with a height from the base to the 
apex of about one hundred feet. These dimensions, 
however, vary greatly according to different authorities. 
Indeed, our idea of both their age and appearance is 

^ This is shown in the illustration at the beginning of this chapter. 



12 



ENGLISH PLEASURE GARDENS 



The Para- 
dise of 
Sardis. 



Early 

Grecian 

gardens. 



very vague. There were other hanging gardens on a 
smaller scale at Thebes, Syracuse, and various places 
of less importance. 

In the fifth century b.c. the Greeks were familiar 
with the gardens of the Persian satrap, Cyrus the 
Younger, at Sardis. Xenophon described how Cyrus 
showed this " Paradise of Sardis " to the Grecian am- 
bassador Lysander, who was in ecstasies at the " beauty 
of the trees, the regularity of the planting, the even- 
ness of their rows, and their making regular angles 
one to another, in a word, the beauty of the quincunx 
order in which they were planted and the delightful 
odours issuing from them." But his admiration was 
redoubled when, seeing his astonishment at the skill 
with which all this had been accomplished, Cyrus 
remarked : " All the trees which you here behold are 
of my own appointment. I it was who contrived, 
measured, and laid out the ground for planting these 
trees, and I can even show you some of them that 
I planted with my own hand." 

The earliest Grecian gardens, existing before Greece 
had come into close contact with foreign countries, 
were characterized by an extreme simplicity, much 
like that of a modern orchard or kitchen garden. We 
may draw the conclusion that even the royal gardens 
were far less elaborate than those described as exist- 
ing at the same time in the East, from a descrip- 



CLASSIC PLEASURE GROUNDS 13 

tion in the " Odyssey " of the garden of Alcinous, 
similar to that of Laertes in Ithaca, and typical of 
the Homeric Age. 

" And without the courtyard, hard by the door, is 
a great garden, of four ploughgates, and a hedge runs 
round on either side. And there grow tall trees 
blossoming, pear trees and pomegranates, and apple 
trees with bright fruit, and sweet figs, and olives in 
their bloom. The fruit of these trees never perisheth, 
neither faileth, winter or summer, enduring through all 
the year. Evermore the west wind blowing brings 
some fruits to birth and ripens others. Pear upon The gardens 

of Alcinous. 

pear waxes old, and apple on apple, yea and cluster 
ripens upon cluster of the grape, and fig upon fig. 
There too hath he a fruitful vineyard planted, whereof 
the one part is being dried by the heat, a sunny plot 
on level ground, while other grapes men are gather- 
ing, and yet others they are treading in the wine- 
press. In the foremost row are unripe grapes that 
cast the blossom, and others there be that are grow- 
ing black to vintaging. There too, skirting the 
furthest line, are all manner of garden beds, planted 
trimly, that are perpetually fresh, and therein are two 
fountains of water, whereof one scatters his stream all 
about the garden, and the other runs over against it 
beneath the threshold of the courtyard, and issues by 
the lofty house, and thence did the townsfolk draw 



14 



ENGLISH PLEASURE GARDENS 



Later 

Grecian 

gardens. 




water. These were the splendid gifts of the gods in 
the palace of Alcinous." ^ 

After the fifth century, however, there began to 
develop in Greece pleasure gardens of a more studied 
appearance, bearing greater resem- 
blance to those of Persia, Babylon, 
and Egypt. This change, no doubt, 
was partly caused by the progress of 
civilization and partly by the closer 
relations established between the East 
and the West. Greek colonists returned from these 
foreign countries, bringing with them new plants 
and increased information as to their culture and the 
architectural features appropriately placed in their vi- 
cinity. The peristyle, or principal house court, was 
ornamented with pavilions, fountains, and colonnades, 
interspersed with low beds of rare exotic plants. There 
were groves of oaks, cypresses, poplars, willows, and 
elms, sometimes set out in public parks, and some- 
times in the consecrated grounds adjoining the temples 
of the gods. The prophetic oak grove of Dodona 
was one of the most ancient Grecian sanctuaries, while 
many other trees and plants were considered as habi- 
tations of living spirits. Fauns and dryads seemed 
to animate the forest trees, and a transmigrated soul 

^"Odyssey," VII. Done into English prose by S. H. Butcher and 
A. Lang. 



CLASSIC PLEASURE GROUNDS 



15 



might find a resting-place in clumps of laurel or mul- 
berry, or even dwell in such delicate flowers as the 
hyacinth or crocus. Floral decorations ornamented 
every ceremony, religious or secular. In mourning or 
rejoicing, the heads of the participants were crowned 
with roses, laurel, or bay leaves. Flowers were so 
much used in their religious ceremonies that the early 
Christians despised them as characteristic pagan attri- 
butes. 

In Athens, gardens both public and private were 
numerous. Many of these, intended as meeting-places 
for philosophers and their pu- 
pils, belonged sometimes to 
individuals, sometimes to the 




state. Pliny says, " Epicurus, 
that connoisseur in the enjoy- 
ment of a life of ease, was the first to lay out a 
garden at Athens ; up to his time it had never been Gardens 
thought of to dwell in the country in the middle of phuos- 
the town." Plato and Theophrastus also owned ^^ 
famous gardens where their pupils assembled for 
instruction. In his will Theophrastus made the fol- 
lowing bequest, " As to my garden, the walk and the 
houses adjacent to the garden, I give them to those 
of my friends mentioned below, who desire to devote 
themselves in common to study and philosophy 
therein." His pupils were especially renowned for 



i6 ENGLISH PLEASURE GARDENS 

pacing up and down the garden walks during philo- 
sophic discussions, and accordingly were entitled mem- 
bers of the peripatetic school. In the Lykeion and 
the Akademion, beautiful parks contained canals, foun- 
tains, groves of elm and plane trees, and many build- 
ings large and small. Beside the main thoroughfares 
were narrow winding paths, known as philosophers' 
walks, furnished with exedra or seats large enough for 
several wanderers to rest upon while engaged in 
conversation. 

The most idyllic description of a Grecian garden was 

written in the third century by Theocritus, a Sicilian 

Greek, who lived partly in Sicily, partly in Egypt. 

An idyl by " So, I and EucHtus and the fair Amyntichus turned 

Theocritus. . . r i • i 

aside into the house of Phrasidamus, and lay down with 
delight in beds of sweet tamarisk and fresh cuttings 
from the vines, strewn on the ground. Many poplars 
and elm trees were waving over our heads, and not far 
off the running of the sacred water from the cave of the 
nymphs warbled to us : in the shimmering branches the 
sun-burnt grasshoppers were busy with their talk, and 
from afar the little owl cried softly out of the tangled 
thorns of the blackberry ; the larks were singing and the 
hedgebirds, and the turtle-dove moaned ; the bees fiew 
round and round the fountains, murmuring softly ; the 
scent of late summer and of the fall of the year was 
everywhere ; the pears fell from the trees at our feet. 



CLASSIC PLEASURE GROUNDS 



17 



and apples in number rolled down at our sides, and the 
young plum trees were bent to the earth with the weight 
of their fruit." ^ 

The classic Roman pleasure gardens began to come The rise of 
into existence during the latter half of the second gardens, 
century before Christ. Traditions of the earlier gardens, 
which have been described, had been handed down to 
the Romans, and added to the honour in which gardens 
were held. " For we find in remote antiquity even," Pliny 
says, " there was nothing looked upon with a greater 
degree of admiration than the gardens of the Hes- 
perides, those of the kings Adonis and Alcinous, and 
Hanging Gardens, including those of Cyrus, king of 
Assyria." Cato and Varro treated gardening from a 
cultural standpoint, and their example was followed in 
verse by Virgil and Columella. 

Between Greece and Rome the connection was at The Graeco- 

Roman 

this time most intimate. Many parts of the Roman period, 
houses were fashioned after Gre- 
cian models and known by Grecian 
names. Often, however, the names 
appropriated were not used for the 
same objects in both countries, and 
this ambiguity led to confusion. 
Thus, while a gallery or colonnade 
covered with vines like a pergola 




Mdyl VII, Thalysia, trans. W. Pater. 



i8 ENGLISH PLEASURE GARDENS 

was called by the Greeks a xystus, this name, as Vitru- 
vius has pointed out, was given by the Romans to a 
parterre composed of paths and flower-beds. Peristylium, 
exedra, and hippodrome, among other words frequently 
applied, rightly or wrongly, to different features in Roman 
gardens, denote their derivation from the Greek. Some- 
times the transposition led to mistakes as curious as 
that which allowed the Romans to consult for a century 
a Grecian sun-dial, brought from Catana in Sicily to 
Rome, without realizing that the difference in latitude 
made it a useless timepiece in the more northern city. 

This Graeco-Roman style of garden was brought to 

its perfection in the first century before Christ, — the 

period of the conquest of England, — and hence is most 

interesting to us as showing the style likely to have been 

Increase of introduced by the Romans into Great Britain. In Italy, 

pleasure ^ • • ^ ^ i • i • • n 

grounds. at this tmic, pleasure gardens were multiplymg so rapidly 
that scant attention was being given to agriculture and 
market-gardening. Many querulous critics extolled the 
good old days when farming used to be held in high 
esteem, and bewailed a neglect entailing among other 
evils a food supply insufficient for the population. The 
cities, towns, and summer resorts were honey-combed 
with gardens, which gradually overran the suburbs and 
spread thickly throughout the country, until villas, 
including vast pleasure gardens, were notable from the 
Apennines to Mount Vesuvius. 



CLASSIC PLEASURE GROUNDS 



19 



mental 
vegetation. 





((Tj/W£»hmCh 



In Rome, and in the smaller cities and towns, trees, prevalence 
shrubs, and flowers were planted everywhere. " That a 
man could not heretofore come by a 
commoner's house within the citie, but 
he should see the windowes beautified 
with greene quishins wrought and 
tapissed with floures of all colours ; re- 
sembling daily to their view the gardens 
indeed which were "in out-villages, as 
being in the very heart of the citie, 
they might think themselves in the country." ^ There 
were sacred groves and public parks like those at 
Athens, hanging gardens similar to those at Babylon, 
and garden courts with a far-away resemblance to those 
of Egypt, and in direct imitation of the Grecian peristyle. 
" A city garden, especially of one who has no other," 
says Cato, "ought to be planted and ornamented with 
all possible care." 

When there was no ground to spare in crowded Hanging 
streets, the roofs of the houses were laid out with ^" ^°^' 
pergolas, ornamental plants, and fountains, while larger 
gardens were supported on masonry in mid-air. These 
pensile gardens were novelties as adversely criticised as 
the twenty-story buildings of modern American cities. 
" Live not they against nature," asks Seneca, " that plant 
orchards on their highest towers, that have whole forests 



■1 Pliny, "Natural History," Book XIX, trans. P. Holland. 



20 



ENGLISH PLEASURE GARDENS 



Location 
of the 
viridarium. 



The peri- 
style. 



shaking upon the tops and turrets of their houses, spread- 
ing their roots in such places where it would suffice them 
that the tops of their branches should touch ? " ^ 

If the dwelling was built purely after the Roman 
fashion, vegetation was cultivated in a court behind 
the house ; but if the Grecian peristyle had replaced the 
ancient atrium, it contained the viridarium^ or herbage. 
Sometimes ornamental plants were grown in both the 
inner and outer enclosures, which, opening into each 
other, were similar in arrangement. Smaller courtyards, 
particularly one reserved for the women, contained 
flowers especially intended to be picked. Often when 
the space was too limited to contain a real garden, the 
illusion of seeing one was contrived by painting the 
enclosing walls with flowers and shrubs in perspective. 
The Grecian peristyle differed from the Roman 
atrium as an elegant drawing-room differs from a homely 

living-room in a modern 
house. Most of the larger 
dwellings at the time of the 
Empire contained one and 
sometimes two peristyles. 
These courtyards were un- 
roofed quadrangles enclosed 
by a portico adjoining the 
principal apartments occupied by the family, and in 

^ Seneca, Epist. 122. 




CLASSIC PLEASURE GROUNDS 21 

pleasant weather were more frequented by it than 
any of the indoor rooms. Ladies, who could not go 
freely abroad, made the courtyards the scene of most 
of their pleasures. It furnished them with both a 
sitting room and playground. Here we see the house- 
wife pictured as seated under a sunshade working on 
some tapestry or feeding a pet dog or bird. Here a 
girl is balanced aloft in a swinging chair, and others 
are tilting or amusing themselves with other childlike 
sports and games. Playing on musical instruments was 
another favourite diversion practised in the peristyle. 

As Rome grew crowded and the space within the 
walls became costly, less room for urban gardens was 
available, and people began to build villas where the 
area was cheaper and more unrestricted, first in the 
suburbs of the city, along the banks of the Tiber, and 
over the Campagna, then gradually spreading through- 
out the peninsula. This led to the development of the 
villa pseudo-urbana, which almost superseded the villa viiia 

gardens. 

rustica in many rural districts. The former was in- 
tended for townspeople who sought relaxation in a more 
or less quiet and secluded spot, where they could lead a 
peaceful and healthy life in all the luxury of their city 
houses; while the latter was a simple farm-house such 
as the Villa Rustica at Boscoreale. Seclusion was a 
desideratum. The charming arrangement of these 
pseudo-urban villas is most delightfully described in 



22 ENGLISH PLEASURE GARDENS 

several of the younger Pliny's letters. He points out as 
the great advantage of his Tuscan property above all his 
other villa grounds that here " there is no need to put 
on your toga, no one wants you in the neighbourhood, 
everything is calm and quiet, and this in itself adds to 
the healthfulness and cheerfulness of the place, no less 
than the brightness of the sky and the clearness of the 
atmosphere." 

Of Pliny's Tusculan villa, about one hundred and 
fifty miles from Rome, he wrote to his friend Apollinaris 
in the latter part of the first century : — 
Pliny's " My villa is so advantageously situated, that it com- 

mands a full view of all the country round ; yet you 
approach it by so insensible a rise that you find your- 
self upon an eminence without perceiving you have 
ascended. Behind, but at a great distance, stand the 
Apennine Mountains. In the calmest days we are 
refreshed by the winds that blow thence, but so spent, 
as it were, by the long tract of land 
they travel over, that they are entirely 
divested of all their strength and 
violence before they reach us. The 
exposure of the principal house front 
is full south, and seems to invite 
the afternoon sun in summer (but somewhat earlier in 
winter) into a spacious and well-proportioned portico, 
consisting of several members, particularly a porch built 



Tusculan 
villa. 




CLASSIC PLEASURE GROUNDS 23 

in the ancient manner. In front of the portico is a sort 
of terrace, embelHshed with various figures and bounded 
with a box hedge, from whence you descend by an 
easy slope, adorned with the representations of divers 
animals in box answering alternately to each other, into 
a lawn overspread with the soft — I had almost said 
the liquid — Acanthus : ' this is surrounded by a walk 
enclosed with tonsile evergreens, shaped into a variety of 
forms. Beyond it is the Gestatio laid out in the form 
of a circus, ornamented in the middle with box cut in 
numberless different figures, together with a plantation 
of shrubs, prevented by the shears from shooting up too 
high : the whole is fenced in by a walk covered with box, 
rising by different ranges to the top. On the outside 
of the wall lies a meadow, that owes as many beauties 
to nature, as all I have been describing within does to 
art ; at the end of which are several other meadows and 
fields interspersed with thickets. At the extremity of 
this portico stands a grand dining room, which opens 
upon one end of the terrace ; from the windows there 
is a very extensive prospect over the meadows up into 
the country, from whence you also have a view of the 
terrace and such parts of the house which project for- 
ward, together with the woods enclosing the adjacent 
hippodrome. Opposite, almost in the centre of the 
portico, stands a square edifice, which encompasses a 

1 Probably a kind of moss. 



24 



ENGLISH PLEASURE GARDENS 



small area, shaded by four plane trees, in the midst of 
which a fountain rises, from whence the water, running 
over the edges of a marble basin, gently refreshes the 
surrounding plane trees and the verdure underneath 
them." Then follows a description of the hippodrome, 
the marble seats, summer-houses, and fountains, which 
added much to the beauty of the gardens. Other sug- 
gestions as to the appearance of the villa gardens may 
be gathered from the remaining ruins of Hadrian's 
superb villa at Tivoli, from the dwellings excavated at 
and near Pompeii, and from the writings of the classic 
writer Vitruvius. 
Pseudo- Of the smaller pseudo-urban villas we are fortunate 

urban villas ... , , , , . , 

at Pompeii. 1^^ being able to study those in and near rompeii. 
At this watering-place, everything was so planned 
that the residents might enjoy a change from city 

life, by dwelling almost continu- 
ally in the open air. As it was 
mostly frequented in summer, 
protection was provided from the 
heat rather than from cold. 
Courtyards occupied far more 
space within the walls of the 
house than the wholly enclosed 
apartments under its roof. The 
residence mainly consisted of a 
large central peristyle, surrounded by the various 




A POnPEIAM FOUMTAIN 



CLASSIC PLEASURE GROUNDS 



25 



living rooms. All over the town, gardens filling the 
courtyards have been excavated, some of these enriched 
with a great variety of beautiful objects both useful 
and ornamental. Fountains {fontes surgentes), statuary 
of bronze and marble, besides stone sun-dials, tables, 
and couches, are to be seen in their original positions. 
Fish-ponds {piscina) lined with blue stucco, niches 
covered with shell-work or gayly-coloured mosaics, 
and little pavilions formed of marble columns are 
among the interesting features. The walls are cov- 
ered with frescoes, often representing landscapes with 
gardens. 

The Casa Nuova, or house of the Vettii, contains The house 
the best examples of a xystus and peristyle, 
cently excavated, it has been left as 
far as possible in its former shape, 
and judiciously restored to complete 
the original effect. Even the pattern 
of the flower-beds was traced from 
the patches of richer earth, outlined 
by brick copings, showing the original 
design. At one corner of the quad- 
rangle a little bronze boy squeezes 
under his arm a goose from whose 
bill water spouts into a circular basin. 
Similar infants, each holding a different 
bird or. beast, stand beside corresponding basins at the 



of the 
Ke- Vettii. 




26 



ENGLISH PLEASURE GARDENS 



The villa of 
Diomedes. 



three remaining corners, while in the middle of each 
side two statues of children direct water into an oblong: 
trough. The lead pipe through which the water was 
conducted is still occasionally used ; the marble tables 
upon which food was served still stand on the veranda, 
while classic flowers, planted in beds laid out on their 
original lines, still brighten the parterre. The photo- 
graph gives a good idea of the arrangement, but only 
a vague impression of the charm of the running 
water, the brilliant sunlight, and the wonderful blue 
sky of Italy, in contrast to the cool shade of the 
portico. 

The medium-sized country-seat near Pompeii, known 
as the villa of Diomedes, is interesting as contain- 
ing gardens both within 
and without the house. 










m < ^^f^5 



Its front door, as the 
celebrated classic architect 
Vitruvius advises, opens 
almost directly into a peri- 
style, the centre of which 
is divided into paths and 
flower-beds. At the left of 
the peristyle is a passage 
leading into a second garden not yet excavated. A 
third and much larger enclosure behind the house is 
encompassed by a portico, and was planted with 



CLASSIC PLEASURE GROUNDS 27 

trees and flowers. In the centre are the remains 
of a fish-pond ornamented by a fountain, and behind 
these there was a platform, over which vines were 
trained on a wooden framework supported by six 
stucco columns. Doubtless meals were often served 
under this delightful little pavilion when the air was 
refreshed by its vicinity to the cool fountain. The 
illustration is taken from an edition of the " Hypneroto- 
machia Poliphili," published early in the sixteenth 
centur)% two centuries before excavations were begun 
at Pompeii. Curiously enough, it gives a very good 
impression of the Pompeian combination of a fountain 
and pavilion. 

In the more palatial villas, added to the garden in Paiatiai 
the peristyle and to that behind the house, were gardens, 
various other enclosed pleasure 
grounds laid out on a much larger f 



HIE 




scale. The geometric patterns of 
the formal enclosures were arranged 
in sharp contrast to the studied 
wilderness of the park. Nothing 
could have been more harmonious 
than the general proportions of these gardens, or 
more elaborate than their details. Straight lines pre- 
dominated and were designed to offer a series of long 
perspectives to the eye. If looked down upon from 
a considerable height, they would hardly have been 



28 



ENGLISH PLEASURE GARDENS 



Ornamental 

kitchen 

gardens. 



Architec- 
tural 

features. 




distinguishable from the extensive pleasure grounds laid 
out by the great architects of the Italian Renaissance. 

Even the kitchen gardens were planned with an eye 
to their ornamental effect. " But is the garden that 
is for use to avail of no ornament ? " asks Quintilian ; 
"by all means let these trees be planted in a regular 

order, and at certain distances. 
Observe that quincunx, how 
beautiful it is ; view it on 
every side ; what can you ob- 
serve more straight or more 
graceful ? Regularity and 
arrangement even improve the soil, because the juices 
rise more regularly to nourish what it bears. Should 
I observe the branches of yonder olive tree shooting 
into luxuriancy, I instantly should lop it ; the effect 
is, it would form itself into a horizontal circle, which 
at once adds to its beauty and improves its bearing." 
The architectural features were so varied and fanci- 
ful that it would be hopeless to try to describe them 
all, though few would be without interest. Pavilions, 
temples, grottoes, arbours, and greenhouses were com- 
mon, and there was every kind of portico and colon- 
nade, as well as water-works, including baths and 
fountains. The plan of the classic gardens was 
invariably the work of an architect ; architecture pre- 
dominated in the general scheme and in all its details. 




J 



CLASSIC PLEASURE GROUNDS 29 

The vegetation near the house was always placed 
under a certain restraint, although in the park beyond 
it might seemingly run wild. The contrast between 
the formality of the garden and the exemption from 
restraint in the park is shown in the accompanying 
illustration. This is a reproduction of a wall decora- 
tion at the Villa Livia outside of Rome, giving a good 
idea of the general appearance of a Roman garden. 

A casino, a form of pavilion consisting of two or The 
three rooms, was considered almost a necessity. It 
was especially intended for games, banqueting, or 
repose. As the villa was removed from the bustle 
of town, so the casino was detached from the noise 
unavoidable in a country house, containing, besides the 
host, his family, dozens of guests, and hundreds of 
slaves. Pliny enthusiastically describes a casino at 
the end of one of his violet-scented terrace walks, — 
" which I am in love with — yes, literally in love with, 
for I built it with my own hands." This contained 
two sitting rooms and a sleeping apartment. The last 
was heated by a hot-air apparatus and was double- 
walled, so that it was " impervious to the voices of 
the slave boys, the murmur of the sea, the raging of 
storms, the light of day, and even the flash of light- 
ning unless the windows are opened." Continuing, he 
adds, " Here it seems to me that I have got away even 
from my own villa, and I derive especial enjoyment from 



30 ENGLISH PLEASURE GARDENS 

it at the time of the .Saturnaha, while the other parts 
of my estabhshment e ringing with the license and 
mirthful shouts of th it season, for there I am no hin- 
drance to the gambols of my slaves, nor are they to my 
studies." 
cubicuia. Other smaller isolated pavilions were called cubicula, 

because they were primarily intended for repose and 
contained a sleeping-place, usually a couch placed in a 
niche or alcove. Our word cubby-hole is of similar 
origin and significance. Pliny describes such a little 
edifice at his Tusculan villa as " a summer-house of 
exquisite marble, the doors whereof project and open 
into a green enclosure ; so that from its upper and 
lower windows the eye is presented with a variety of 
different verdures. Next to this is a little private 
recess (which, though it seems distinct, may be laid 
into the same room) furnished with a couch ; and not- 
withstanding it has windows on every side, yet it 
enjoys a very agreeable gloominess by means of a 
spreading vine which climbs to the top and entirely 
overshades it. Here you may recline and fancy your- 
self in a wood : with this difference only, that you are 
not exposed to the weather. In this place a fountain 
also rises and instantly disappears ; in different quar- 
ters are disposed marble seats, which serve no less 
than the summer-house, as so many reliefs after one 
is wearied with walking." 



CLASSIC PLEASURE lOUNDS 31 

There were various forms of ui lied constructions, xriciinii. 
consisting of columns erected on platforms and sup- 
porting vine-covered rafters, shadinj.^ couches or seats, 
and a table where meals could be served. Several 
examples of these little banqueting pavilions remain 
at Pompeii, and must have appeared when in perfect 
condition much like the preceding illustration, which 
shows a Renaissance reproduction of the same idea. 
Another similar pavilion, but in the shape of an 
alcove, is described by Pliny as terminating an acan- 
thus walk. " At the upper end is an alcove of white 
marble shaded by vines, supported by four small 
Carystian pillars. From this bench the water, gush- 
ing through several little pipes, as if it were pressed 
out by the weight of the people who repose them- 
selves upon it, falls into a stone cistern underneath, 
from whence it is received into a fine-polished, marble 
basin, so artfully contrived that it is always full with- 
out ever overflowing. When I sup here this basin 
serves for a table, the large sort of dishes being 
placed round the margin, while the smaller ones swim 
about in the form of little vessels and water-fowl. 
Corresponding to this is a fountain which is inces- 
santly emptying and filling; for the water, which it 
throws up to a great height, falls back into it by 
means of two openings, and is returned as fast as it 
is received." 



32 



ENGLISH PLEASURE GARDENS 




Exedraj. Simplest of all was a seat, or exedra, sometimes 

covered and sometimes uncovered, usually semicircular 
in form and placed on a slightly- 
raised platform. This was espe- 
cially intended for conversation. 
On the street of the Tombs in 
Pompeii are three or four of these 
seats, favourite places for a rendez- 
vous. Similar exedrcs were placed in 
the house courts, gardens, and parks. 
Grottoes or artificial caves cooled by streams of fresh 
Musaea. Water scrvcd as muscsa, or thinking-places for philoso- 
phers, where they could meditate in solitude, hidden 
from observation, protected from 
interruption, and sheltered from 
the heat of the midday sun in 
summer. Such a grotto sur- 
mounted by a pergola is shown 
in the accompanying illustration. 
Other caverns, warmed by hot air, 
were provided for winter occupa- 
tion. The following account, by 
M. T. Varro, gives a good idea 
of one of these out-of-door studies 
and its surroundings : " My study 
{museum) is situated at the spot where the stream 
springs, and from this point, as far as an island formed 




CLASSIC PLEASURE GROUNDS 33 

by its junction with another watercourse, is a distance of 
eight hundred and fifty feet. Along its banks a walk is 
laid out ten feet broad ; between this walk and the 
country my aviary is placed, closed in right and left 
by high walls. The external lines of the building gave 
it some resemblance to writing tablets surmounted by 
a capitol. On the rectangular side its breadth is 
forty-eight feet and its length seventy-two, not includ- 
ing the semicircular capitol, which is twenty-seven 
feet in diameter. Between the aviary and the walk, 
which marks the lower margin of the tablets, opens 
a vaulted passage leading to an esplanade {ambulatio). 
On each side is a regular portico upheld by stone col- 
umns, the intervals between which are occupied by dwarf 
shrubs. A network of hemp stretches from the outside 
walk to the architrave, and a similar trellis joins the 
architrave to the pedestal. The interior is filled with 
birds of every species, which receive their food through 
the net. A little stream supplies them with water." ^ 

Greenhouses with panes of glass or of translucent Green- 
houses, 
stone were built for the protection of the more tender 

plants in winter, and to force others to mature out of 

season. Here exotics from the East were grown. 

Multitudes of birds, beasts, and insects, as well as Aviaries and 

apiaries. 

human beings, were made welcome to portions of the 
plantation and supplied with suitable dwelling-places. 

1 " Of Agriculture," M. T. Varro. 



34 



ENGLISH PLEASURE GARDENS 



Provision for 
exercise. 



In the early cult of sacred trees and pillars, birds 
played an important part, and then, as Mr. Arthur 
Evans has remarked, as occurs to-day among primitive 
races, the spiritual being in bird form was commonly 

supposed to descend on 
trees and stones. Peacocks 
strutted along the alleys, 
swans sailed over the water, 
and doves flew about the 
fountains, each the possible 
incarnation of a Qrod or orod- 



dess. Song-birds are said 
to have been less esteemed 
than those which, like the 
turtle-dove, had " qualities recalling the great law of 
Nature, the law of love, a fundamental principle 
in the religion of antiquity." Sometimes they were 
confined in cages of hempen netting or wickerwork, 
but often they were permitted to roam at liberty. 
Beehives were also constructed of wickerwork and 
sometimes of earthenware. 

In the scheme of the gardens, much importance 
was attached to various open-air constructions es- 
pecially intended to promote muscular exercise. The 
largest of these was the kippodromus, a name given 
in the time of the Antonines, not to a building, but 
to an elongated rectangle terminated at one end by 




CLASSIC PLEASURE GROUNDS 35 

a semicircle, and defined by a broad path running 

around it like a race track. Here one could drive 

along a broad avenue shaded by planes and laurels, 

be carried in a litter on an alley firmly constructed 

for that purpose, or walk on a gravel foot-path. The 

central area was covered by turf intersected by 

narrow paths and sometimes planted with rose-bushes 

or geometrical flower-beds. Pliny the Younger gives 

a detailed description of a hippodrome of this kind 

at his Tusculan villa. It was enclosed by " plane 

trees covered with ivy, so that while their heads 

flourish with their own foliage, their bodies enjoy a 

borrowed verdure ; and thus the ivy, twining round 

the trunks and branches, spreads from tree to tree 

and connects them together. Between each plane 

tree are planted box trees, and behind these bay trees, 

which blend their shade with that of the planes. 

This plantation, forming a straight boundary on both The hippo- 
drome, 
sides of the hippodrome, bends at the farther end into 

a semicircle, which, being set round and sheltered with 

cypress trees, varies the prospect and casts a deeper 

gloom; while the inward circular walks (for there 

are several), enjoying an open exposure, are perfumed 

with roses, and correct by a very pleasing contrast 

the coolness of the shade with the warmth of the 

sun. Having passed through these several winding 

alleys, you enter a straight walk, which breaks out 



36 ENGLISH PLEASURE GARDENS 

into a variety of others divided by box hedges. In 
one place you have a Httle meadow, in another the 
box is cut into a thousand different forms ; some- 
times into letters expressing the name of the master ; 
sometimes that of the artificer, whilst here and there 
little obelisks rise, intermixed alternately with fruit 
trees ; when on a sudden, in the midst of this elegant 
regularity, you are surprised with an imitation of the 
negligent beauties of rural nature, in the centre of 
which lies a spot surrounded with a knot of dwarf 
plane trees. . . . Throughout the whole hippodrome 
several small rills run murmuring along, wheresoever 
the hand of art thought proper to conduct them ; 
watering here and there different spots of verdure, 
and in their progress refreshing the whole." 

Broad paths wide enough for a sedan-chair or a litter 
Gesta- to be Carried along them were called gestationes. Some- 

tiones. 

times they surrounded the parterre or hippodrome, and 
sometimes they were placed on a terrace. Often they 
were planted with soft moss or with sweet-smelling 
herbs, which sent forth their fragrance when crushed 
under foot. 
Ambuia- Narrow paths, called ambulationes, separated the beds 

tiones. 

in the parterre. These were not wide enough for more 
than one or two people to walk abreast, 
other es- Other kinds of esplanades, open, or covered by a por- 

planades. . . , . , , . ^ 

tico, were intended especially tor the taking ot exercise. 



CLASSIC PLEASURE GROUNDS 



37 



In summer they were shielded from tlie bright rays 
of light and exposed to every cool breath of wind ; in 
winter protected from unwelcome breezes and warmed 
by the sunshine. The length of each promenade was 
carefully measured, and posted up where the walker 
could easily calculate the extent of his stroll. 

Sculpture added much to the decorative effect of the Sculpture, 
garden. Carved balustrades, benches, tables, bas-reliefs, 
and statuary were considered the most 
important part of many gardens, and were 
beautifully designed. To supply this orna- 
mentation, ship-loads of the finest works of 
art were exported from Greece to adorn 
Italian pleasure grounds. At Lucan's villa, ^ 
near Rome, marble sculpture was so predominant that 
his gardens were called by Juvenal horti marmorei. 

As in Greece, statues were usually set up in honour statuary, 
of some appropriate divinity. Accordingly, images of 

the Graces, the Seasons, Pan, 
Sylvanus, Flora, Pomona, and 
Vertumnus were frequently erected. 
Oftenest of all Priapus was thus 
worshipped. Even the humblest 
peasants took pains to employ his 
image rudely carved from a tree 
trunk or a block of stone to act 
as a protective deity or sanctified scarecrow to frighten 





38 



ENGLISH PLEASURE GARDENS 



Water- 
works. 



Pompeian 
fountains. 




harmful birds away from their crops. Terminal statues 
with knobs below the shoulders, from which a votive 
garland of flowers might be hung, seem especially fit 
for the open air. 

Refreshment being one of the most desirable luxu- 
ries for human beings and a necessity for the vegetation, 

an abundance of water was in- 
dispensably connected with out- 
of-door dwelling-places. In the 
baths, fish-ponds, and fountains 
great ingenuity was displayed to 
please the eye while the body 
was being reinvigorated. An 
aquarius was one of the most highly skilled slaves 
employed at the villa ; under his direction many useful 
and ornamental water-works, designed by the architects 
and engineers, were kept in order. From an elaborate 
chateau d'eau to a slender font of drinking-water, almost 
every form of ornamental hydraulics with which we are 
familiar, and many others now unknown, seem to have 
been employed by the ancients. 

At Pompeii there are a variety of fountains in a good 
state of preservation. Hardly a peristyle is without a 
rectangular basin of water a foot or two deep, either 
lined with marble or mosaic. Usually they are placed 
entirely below the level of the pavement, but occasion- 
ally the edge of the basin is surmounted by a marble 



CLASSIC PLEASURE GROUNDS 



39 




coping rising a few inches above the surface. A marble 

table or statue was often placed in connection with 

this fountain. Many garden courts were 

also ornamented with brightly coloured 

niches covered with mosaic and shell- 
work sheltering a spout of water or a 

miniature chateau d'eau and decorated 

with statues. Masks serving as lamps 

were placed on each side of one of 

these niches. At night flames bursting 

through the eyes and mouth must have produced a 

weird effect. 

Fantastically clipped evergreen trees and shrubs were 

the principal " vegetate ornament " of the garden. 

This kind of sculpture is said to have been invented by 
Matius, a friend of the Emperor Augus- 
tus. The chief gardener was known as 
the topiarms, and it was his none too Topiary 
easy task to see that the evergreens were ^°^ ' 
artistically shorn. Under his supervision 
pyramids, cones, wild animals, hunting 
scenes, and even a whole fleet of ships 
might be shaped by skilful shears. Of 
shrubs there were fewer species then, but 
the variety in form given by the topi- 
ary's art made up for any deficiency 

in their natural diversity. An illustration from the 




40 



ENGLISH PLEASURE GARDENS 



" Hypnerotomachia Poliphili " shows the image of a man 
upholding a curious structure, all of which was sup- 
posed to have been clipped from a box tree. Other no 
less fanciful designs were reconstructed on supposedly 
classic lines by the archaeologists of the Renaissance, 
and were probably not far from the mark. 

Thexystus, The xystus, or parterre, was elaborately laid out 
in figures edged with box. Sometimes these outlines 
were left empty, and sometimes they were filled with 
flowers. The accompanying illustrations give an idea 
of the style of the design. According to our ideas, 
flowers, even in the xystus, would have seemed lack- 
ing in abundance and variety. From coronamenta, a 
word used to signify cultivated flowers, we can assume 
that they were intended to be picked to decorate with 
wreaths the heads of those reclining at a banquet, or 
to festoon the walls with garlands, rather than to 
give pleasure when growing. Thus the appearance 
of the parterre depended mostly upon the geometrical 
design of the beds, the topiary work, statuary, and 
fountains. The scarcity of vegetation brought the 
architectural features into great prominence. 

Flowers. The rosc, the lily, and the violet were the three 

most distinguished flowers of antiquity; but the nar- 
cissus, anemone, gladiolus, iris, poppy, amaranth, im- 
mortelle, verbena, periwinkle, and crocus were also 
cultivated and much admired. Many flowerless plants 



.^ 



CLASSIC PLEASURE GROUNDS 41 

like basil, sweet marjoram, and thyme were grown for 
their fragrance, while the acanthus was welcome on 
account of its beautiful foliage. Numer- 
ous flowers are mentioned by Pliny in 
his " Natural History " on account of 
their curative properties, among them 
the asphodel, nasturtium, and mallow. ^^^^^^^^^^^ 
Others he praises as especially appro- ^"-^i2£i^ ^ 
priate for chaplets and garlands, such as roses, violets, 
and the never fading amaranth. Ivy covered the walls 
or was trained to form garlands between trees and 
columns. 

Trees and shrubs were cultivated in the earden Trees and 
and park and were often sacred to the gods, especially 
if happening to have been struck by lightning. In 
front of these tables or altars were idols placed 
as shown in the preceding illustration. The first 
temples, according to Pliny, were trees. Amono- 
the favourites were the pine, the emblem of Cybele, 
the oak of Jupiter, the laurel of Apollo, the myrtle 
of Venus, the poplar of Hercules, and the olive 
of Minerva. Groves of sacred trees were often 
planted, especially in connection with temples. The 
cypress although an exotic was also grown in many 
places. Yew, although sufficiently common, was not 
much esteemed, and instead juniper and rosemary 
were often employed for topiaiy work. Box, too, was 



42 



ENGLISH PLEASURE GARDENS 



frequently clipped, and then, as always, considered the 
best shrub for edgings. 
Labyrinths. Labyrinths are said to have been originally con- 
structed to conceal the royal Egyptian tombs. The 
word is of Egyptian origin. The idea of Greek 
and Roman labyrinths may have come from Egypt; 
but in the great prehistoric palace at Knossos most 
archceologists recognize the origi- 
nal of the traditional labyrinth ; it 
was the house of the double axe, 
symbolizing Zeus and reverenced 
as the sanctuary of the god, as well 
as the palace of the king. In the 
centre of the building were two 
sacred columns engraved with double axes. The plan 
of this labyrinth is commemorated on the ancient money 
of Knossos. During the Roman Empire, labyrinths 
were often constructed to ornament gardens. One is 
sketched on a wall at Pompeii with the inscription 
Labyrint/ms hie habitat Minotaiirus. Others were used 
as designs to embellish the mosaic pavement of the 
peristyle. 

Finally, in Italy during the third century, as in 
England at the close of the eighteenth, formality and 

Extremes of . ^ . , . . , . , , , 

artificiality, artmciality were carried to meaningless extremes ot 
magnificence, and provoked much abuse and ridicule. 
One writer complains that the cities have been in- 




villa. 



1 

CLASSIC PLEASURE GROUNDS 43 

vaded to such an extent by the country that they are 
turned into vast gardens. Another derides a fanatical 
amateur whose garden was made complete by sacrific- 
ing to it his bedchamber and dining rooms. The 
poets Horace and Martial, like Pope and Addison in 
more recent days, wearying of the restraint imposed 
upon nature and the overluxurious, pompous life estab- 
lished in the vi//a pseudo urbana, advocated return 
to the simplicities of the villa rustica. 

Hadrian's famous villa at Tivoli showed ^^ Hadrian's 

evidence of the degraded but magnificent 
taste of his time. It was the last word of 
artificiality and pomposity, and cast the 
golden house of Nero quite into the shade. 
Even now the ruins cover an area of about 
ten square miles. Gardens, groves, colon- 
nades, shady corridors, high-roofed domes, grottoes, 
baths, lakes, basilicas, libraries, theatres, circuses 
built of varicoloured marble and filled with works of 
art, were crowded together near the imperial palace. 

Here Gregorovius tells us the emperor beguiled 
his time in recollections of his Odysseus-like travels. 

" For this villa, built according to his own designs, 
was the copy and reflection of the most beautiful things 
which he had admired in the world. The names of 
buildings in Athens were given to different parts of 
his villa. The Lyceum, the Academy, the Prytaneum, 




44 



ENGLISH PLEASURE GARDENS 



the Poeclle, even the vale of Tempe with the Peneus 
flowing through it, and indeed Elysium and Tartarus, 
were all there. 

" One part was consecrated to the wonders of the 
Nile, and was called Canopus after the enchanting- 
pleasure grounds of the Alexandrians. Here stood a 
copy of the famous temple of Serapis, which stood on 
a canal and was approached by a boat. . . . 

" At a sign from the emperor these groves, valleys, 
and halls would become alive with the mythology of 
Olympus ; processions of priests would make pilgrim- 
ages to Canopus, Tartarus and Elysium would be- 
come peopled with the shades from Homer, swarms of 
bacchantes might wander through the vale of Tempe, 
choruses of Euripides might be heard in the Greek 
theatre, and in sham fight the fleets would repeat the 
battle of Xerxes." 





CHAPTER II 



MONASTIC GARDENS 




URING the tumultuous Anglo-Saxon 
period immediately succeeding the with- 
drawal of the Romans from Britain, their 
civilization died into a vague tradition 



The dis- 



of the past. " The villas, the mosaics, appearance 

, . 1 • 1 T • r 1 ^ , . of Roman 

the coms which we dig up in our nelds, are no relics culture, 
of our English fathers, but of a Roman world which 
our fathers' swords swept utterly away." The peace- 
ful arts were lost in oblivion. Horticulture, least of 
all, could flourish while the country was being dev- 
astated by internal anarchy and barbarian invasions. 

The coming of St. Augustine to Canterbury in monastic era 
597 A.D. was the beginning of a new era. " The 
civilization, arts, and letters which had fled before 
the sword of the English conquest returned with 
the Christian faith." Toil, which had sunk into the 
greatest dishonour, was raised from the dust by the 

45 



founded by 
St. Augus- 
tine. 



46 



ENGLISH PLEASURE GARDENS 



St. Bene- 
dict's 
"roseto" 



The cross 
and the 
plough. 



monks. " It was the special glory of St. Benedict '^ 
(the founder of the order to which St. Augustine 
belonged) "to teach the men of his day that work 
sanctified by prayer is the best thing a man can do, 
and this lesson has never been lost sight of since liis 
time." Thus within the walls of the Benedictine 
monasteries were large gardens cultivated by the 
monks in common, and often smaller ones assigned 
to the abbot and to the chief almoner of the com- 
munity. Here flowers, despised by the earliest Chris- 
tians as symbols of paganism, were now grown to 
decorate the church. The rose was held in the hio;h- 
est esteem. At Subiaco is still preserved the roseto, 
a little rose garden set apart for St. Benedict. The 
rose-bushes it contains are said to be the same as 

those whose beauty de- 
lighted his senses, and with 
whose thorns he was ac- 
customed to mortify his 
flesh when endeavourinsr 
to chase away thoughts of 
the beautiful temptress. 

With the cross the 
monks carried the plough. 
The Benedictines were 
accordingly called by Monsieur Guizot the Defricheurs 
of Europe. In England, to the Benedictine St. 




MONASTIC GARDENS 47 

Augustine and to his disciples were due the revival 
of horticulture and the introduction of several new 
vegetables and fruits. On the continent the monks 
are said to have incorporated fragments of the Roman 
villas into their monasteries, and to have restored the 
former gardens. But in England there seems to have 
been very slight connection if any between the classic 
and conventual grounds. Although during the two 
centuries succeeding the advent of the saint, garden- 
ing certainly flourished within the newly founded 
monasteries, little is known except the mere fact of 
its existence. 

In the convents for women, too, planned like the con- Nunnery 

gardens. 

ventual establishments for men, there were gardens. Of 
these, one of the earliest was constructed by St. Rade- 
gonde, wife of Clothair I, at Poitiers, whither, in the 
middle of the sixth century, she escaped to take the veil. 
" Here the delicate hands of the queen, of the Abbess 
Agnes, and of the nuns cultivated roses and other 
flowers, that, woven into garlands or scattered on the 
table to form a perfumed covering, ornamented the 
refectory." Perhaps some of these blossoms had clus- 
tered over an arbour there, where the poet Venantius 
Fortunatus (a rather Epicurean bishop with many 
pagan proclivities), surrounded by a group of admir- 
ing "sisters," used to compose his sonnets and enjoy 
en ante precieuse the sweetness of open-air life. 



48 



ENGLISH PLEASURE GARDENS 



The nuns as 
gardeners. 



The decline 
of monasti- 
cism. 



Religious 
revival. 



The nuns were required to be good gardeners. 
Many years later, Heloi'se, abbess of Paraclet, addressed 
a long complaint to Abelard, stating that it was un- 
reasonable to expect nuns to conform to the same 
rules as monks in regard to agriculture and horticul- 
ture. Physically, she contended, women were unfit 
for much rough manual labour. 

In the tenth century, the darkest of the Dark Ages, 
another period of great industrial depression reached its 
lowest ebb. Again civilization suffered from foreign 
invasions. Monasticism, for the previous two centuries 
on the decline, almost ceased the struggle to subsist ; 
and horticulture, as before early in the Christian era, 
practically became a lost art. 

In the eleventh century, however, a revival of reli- 
gious zeal, in England as elsewhere, brought about an 
improvement in the condition of affairs. This develop- 
ment preceding the Norman Conquest is well described 
by Viollet le Due: — 

" All Europe was under either religious or military 
rule, and as in this world moral force always finishes by 
overcoming material force, when there is a conflict be- 
tween the two, the monasteries acquired more influence 
and more riches than the castles. They had on their 
side the voice of the common people, who, in the shadow 
of the convents, devoted themselves to industry and cul- 
tivated their fields in greater security than under the 



MONASTIC GARDENS 49 

walls of the feudal castles ; who found solace for their 
moral and physical sufferings within the great estab- 
lishments, where all was well ordered, where prayers 
and charity were never wanting. Religious houses 
were the place of refuge for sick souls, for great repen- 
tances, for hopes deceived, for work and meditation, for 
feebleness and poverty, at the time when the first con- 
dition of earthly existence was a strong arm and a shoul- 
der capable of carrying a coat of mail." 

After the Norman Conquest, William and his fol- Norman 
lowers brought with them, from across the Channel, new 
styles in architecture for the castles and monasteries 
which they established to promote the subjugation of 
England. The rage for founding monasteries, then at 
its height in Normandy, spread all over the conquered 
country. William himself began this movement by 
erecting and richly endowing several superb abbeys, 
and many of his subjects followed his example. 

Again the Benedictine order was the first to flourish, Benedictine 
and this time far more extensively than ever before. In 
order to avoid any unnecessary contact with the outside 
world, its rule prescribed that each community should 
contain all the essentials of life within its precincts. 
Since the flesh of no four-footed animal could be eaten, 
the raising of fish and fowl was customary, while that 
of vegetables was indispensable. Fish and duck ponds, 
poultry yards, orchards, vineyards, kitchen and physic 



50 



ENGLISH PLEASURE GARDENS 



William of 

Malmes- 

bury's 

description 

of Thomey 

Abbey. 



gardens, were, if possible, connected with every religious 
foundation, and were often its greatest pride and glory. 
Manual labour was obligatory, and the monks adopted 
agriculture and horticulture as their favourite pursuits. 

" Beside the spacious monastic buildings," Monsieur 
Joret says, " one always found a garden. Although it 
was destined above all to supply the needs of the con- 
vent with vegetables, which served for the nourishment 
of the cenobites, and with aromatic or medicinal herbs, 
cultivated for the remedies which they furnished, yet 
some flowers also were cherished for the pleasure they 
gave the eye and for their fragrance, as well as to 
deck the altar on a feast day." 

Of these monastic gardens few actual traces or exact 
records have been preserved in England. But William 
of Malmesbury's delightful description of the cultivated 
grounds close to Thorney Abbey, near Peterborough, 
early in the twelfth century, will give an impression of 
their general appearance. " It represents a very Para- 
dise, for that in pleasure and delight it resembles heaven 
itself. The marshes abound in trees, whose length 
without a knot doth emulate the stars. The plain 
there is as level as the sea, which with green grass 
allures the eye, and is so smooth that there is nought 
to hinder him who runs through it. Neither is there 
any waste space, for in some parts are apple trees, in 
others, vines, which are either spread on the ground or 



MONASTIC GARDENS 51 

raised on poles. A mutual strife is there between 
nature and art; so that what one produces not, the 
other supplies." 

A twelfth-century plan of Canterbury, showing the PianofCan- 
cloisters containing a herbarium and a conduit, with thftweiSn 
the fish-pond, orchard, and vineyard outside the walls, "°*'"^' 
gives only a rough idea of the planting and arrange- 
ment; but there is no other even as complete belong- 
ing to this early period. Since, however, the various 
parts of all monasteries, appertaining to the same order, 
were disposed with as much uniformity as the exi- 
gencies of the situation permitted, the general scheme 
of the English monastic gardens can be gathered from 
the plans and descriptions of those on the continent. 
The building was usually placed in a valley near a river, 
in order that the grounds might be easily irrigated. 
Among the important divisions the cloister-garth con- 
tained perhaps the most characteristic features, and is 
especially interesting on account of its resemblance to 
the classic Grecian peristyle and to the Roman atrium, 

or imphivium. According to Viollet le Due : 

" It is probable that the first cloisters were porticoes Thecioisters 
of the same kind as those of antiquity, that is to say;— ""l^^l^^"^ 
a sloping roof of carpentry borne upon columns, of 
which the base rests on the ground. We have sought 
vainly to discover at what period the well-known dis- 
position of the Roman impluvium was modified to 



52 



ENGLISH PLEASURE GARDENS 



Location of 
the clois- 
ters. 




that which we see admitted in the most ancient clois- 
ters. There must have been a transition which escapes 
us for lack of monuments described, or buildings still 
existing. For there is a well-de- 
fined demarcation between the 
Roman impluvium and the Chris- 
tian cloisters of Europe. In the 
first, the columns rest directly 
upon the soil, and one can pass 
from the colonnade to the plot 
of ground in the area intervening 
between the columns; while in the 
second, the pillars or columns are always placed on a 
pedestal, or a parapet, separating the gallery from the 
open ground, and only interrupted by rare breaks serv- 
ing as exits. This latter disposition and the lowness 
of the columns are characteristic of cloisters in the 
West, and form a particular style of architecture, which 
has less connection with the courts enclosed by porticoes 
of the Romans." 

The cloisters were enclosed by the church and the 
other principal buildings of the monastery, — the refec- 
tory, the dormitory, and the chapter-house, — just as 
the classic peristyle was surrounded by the living 
rooms occupied in common by the family. These 
cloisters were ordinarily placed south of the church 
in order that, unshadowed by its lofty walls, the 





Spanish CiAKUKx Courts, Grenada. 



MONASTIC GARDENS 



53 










COURT OF THE CIONi : THE ALHAMBRA 



monks might have the full benefit of the sun as they 
paced up and down the corridor reciting their prayers, 
or sat on the benches either studying religious books 
or wrapped in contempla- 
tion. Ostensibly they were 
absorbed in their devotions, 
but in reality " carnal " 
thoughts often crept into 
their minds and were whis- 
pered about ; hence forbid- 
den gossiping in the corners of the cloisters often gave 
occasion for doing penance. 

" The diversity of the dwellings and offices around 
the cloisters," says Guillaume Durand, "signifies the 
diversity of the dwellings and recompenses in the 
heavenly kingdom. ' For in my Father's house 
are many mansions,' said the Saviour. And in the 
moral sense the cloister represents the contemplation 
into which the soul withdraws itself and hides, after 
being separated from the crowd of carnal thoughts, 
and where it reflects upon the only real blessings — 
those of heaven. Around these cloisters are four walls 
symbolizing contempt for oneself, contempt for the 
world, love of one's neighbour, and love of God." 

The walls of the cloister were usually painted with The cloister 
frescoes representing scenes from the Old and New Tes- 
taments, as those of the peristyle had been decorated 



54 



ENGLISH PLEASURE GARDENS 



The cloister- 
garth. 



The well. 



with mythological subjects, landscapes, and garlands 
of flowers. On the walls of the Campo Santo at 
Pisa are some charming fourteenth-century frescoes, 
showing groups of people sitting and standing in an 
earthly paradise. Their surroundings are especially 
interesting, including a graceful hexagonal fountain with 
conventional flowers in the foreground, and orange 
and oak trees forming a charming background to the 
picturesque figures. 

The grass plot in the midst of the cloisters was 
sometimes called paradise, signifying to the monks, 
according to Wiclif, the greenness of their virtues. 
This verdant square was often thickly studded with 
flowers as represented in early manuscript illuminations. 
The flowers were under the charge of the sacristan, 
and were intended to be used by him to decorate the 
church at festivals and incidentally to give pleasure 
to the eye when growing. Two paths crossing each 
other at right angles divided the 
grass plot into quarters, and some- 
times at their intersection was a 
tree, symbolizing to the brethren the 
ladder by which, in gradations of vir- 
tue, they aspired to celestial things. 
More often, however, perhaps be- 
cause cleanliness comes next to godliness, there was, 
in the centre, a savina, or tub of water, for washing 





Gothic Fountain, fkom an Early Tapestry. 



MONASTIC GARDENS 



55 



purposes, or the simplest form of well, like the one 
reproduced from an early manuscript ; at a later period 
this was replaced by a more elaborate, carved stone well- 
head, or a fountain of drinking water, which became 
the most important architectural feature and ornament 
of the courtyard, whether designed in the Gothic or 
Renaissance style. The water 
was drawn up in a bucket 
suspended by a rope rolling on 
a pulley ; this involved an iron 
support to the pulley, which 
was often ornamentally forged, 
as appears in the illustration 
of a well in the cloisters at 
the Certosa near Florence. 





A-WELL-IN THE CETIT03A : FLORENCE v^i 



The plan of the ancient monastery of St. Gall in Plan of the 

monastic 

Switzerland, familiar to Charlemagne, still exists, and gardens at 

St. Gall. 

supplies much information as to the arrangement of a 
large religious establishment belonging to the Bene- 
dictines in the ninth century. Probably few altera- 
tions were made, except in details, during the later 
Middle Ages. Its name commemorates the Irish mis- 
sionary before whom, at a still earlier time, " the 
spirits of flood and fell fled wailing over the waters 
of Lake Constance." The monastery was placed in a 
valley, and the cultivated grounds within the walls 
consisted of four divisions: the cloister-garth, the 



56 



ENGLISH PLEASURE GARDENS 



The clois- 
ters. 



The physic 
garden. 



The kitchen 
garden. 




The ceme- 
tery. 



physic garden, the vegetable garden, and a combination 
of orchard and burial ground. 

The cloister-garth was a square, planted with grass 
and possibly shrubs, divided by two intersecting paths 
into four equal quarters. In the 
centre was a savina, supplying water 
for drinking and washing purposes. 
These cloisters were south of the 
church, and surrounded by the other 
more important communal buildings. 
For obviously logical reasons, the 
physic garden was placed close beside the house of 
the medical attendant. It was laid out in sixteen 
oblong beds, severally containing peppermint, rosemary, 
white lilies, sage, rue, corn-flag, pennyroyal, fenngreek, 
roses, watercress, cummin, lovage, tansy, kidney bean, 
fennel, or savory. All of these were regarded as herbs 
useful for medicinal purposes. 

The kitchen garden was necessarily on a larger 
scale and contained eighteen oblong beds of identical 
shape, each planted with a different kind of vegetable 
or pot-herb : onion, garlic, parsley, coriander, chervil, 
dill, lettuce, poppy, savory, radish, parsnip, carrot, 
cabbage, beet, leek, shallot, celery, or corn-cockle. Near 
by was the house of the head gardener or hortulajms. 
In the burial ground, trees and shrubs were planted 
in the spaces between the graves, and must have 



MONASTIC GARDENS 57 

produced the ornamental effect which in this connec- 
tion we are apt to consider as modern. Mentioned as 
growing there were apple, pear, plum, service medlar, 
fig, quince, peach, hazelnut, almond, chestnut, walnut, 
laurel, and pine trees. Amidst such a luxuriance of 
foliage the graves must have been almost hidden 
from view. 

Alexander Neckam, an Augustinian monk living in Alexander 

1 1 r 1 • 1 1 • T- 1 • 1 • Neckam on 

the twelith century, is the earliest bnglish writer on gardens, 
gardens. In his " De Naturis Rerum " he describes 
the herbs, trees, and flowers growing in a noble 
garden ; but his list can hardly be taken to apply 
literally to plants then flourishing in England, for 
neither the pomegranates, almonds, dates, oranges, nor 
lemons mentioned by him could have survived there 
out of doors. On the other hand, " the drowsy poppy," 
the daffodil, and brank ursin (acanthus), peony, violet, 
rose, marigold, and lily, among other flowers he cites, 
we may well believe were grown in many gardens, as 
they are also described in the oldest English herbaries. 
Battle Abbey, the first great monastery in England Battle 

Abbey. 

founded after the Norman Conquc-t, belonged to the 
Benedictine order, and was originally called " La 
Bataille." William the Conqueror ordered it to be 
built on the site of the decisive conflict between the 
Norman and Anglo-Saxon armies, in fulfilment of his 
vow, made as the battle raged, that if God should 



58 



ENGLISH PLEASURE GARDENS 



The Abbey 
gardens. 



Cistercian 
monasteries. 



grant him the victory, a splendid chantry should 
be erected for the souls of the slain. The high altar 
is said to mark the spot where, in the thick of 
the fiercest fighting, Harold, the king, was killed 
and his body found by his betrothed, after nightfall. 

A step away from this historic spot, stretching be- 
tween it and the restored ruins of the monastery, are 
some beautiful modern gardens laid out by the late 
Duchess of Cleveland. The stiff, geometrical patterns 
of the parterre, bedded out with geraniums and edged 
with box, produce an effect harmonious with the 
building, although they are utterly unlike the homely 
plantations formerly cultivated by the monks. Another 
attractive arrangement is the terrace walk of grass in- 
tersected by gravel paths beside the Abbey, with em- 
brasures in the thick wall for seats, where, walking or 
sittino:, one overlooks a wonderful stretch of woodlands 
and downs once traversed by William and his army. 

The Cistercians also, following in the footsteps of 
the Benedictines, as theirs was an oifshoot of the 
older order, did much to further the progress of 
horticulture on the continent and in England. Their 
monasteries, as conspicuously bare of decoration as the 
Benedictines', were built in the hollows of valleys, where 
culture could fertilize the soil, and where there was an 
abundance of water to irrigate the land. St. Bernard 
founded the most famous of all their communities in 



MONASTIC GARDENS 59 

the wild and gloomy valley of Clairvaux, beside a clear 
stream running through the midst of a thick forest. 
An ardent lover of nature, " Trust one who has tried it," 
he wrote ; " you will find more in woods than in books, 
trees and stones will teach you what you can never 
learn from school-masters." One of the most sacred 
spots in the monastery, now sadly deprived of all its 
ancient glory, was a little plot of ground whose culti- 
vation was his especial care. Large gardens belonging 
to the community lay within the cloisters, and outside 
others stretched over clearings in the forest, covering 
many acres. The several divisions of ground were 
separated by intersecting canals supplied by the river 
Alba. A glowing description of the orchard by a 
twelfth-century writer is worth quoting : — 

" If thou desire to know the situation of Clairvaux, ciairvauxin 

1 , .... . _, the twelfth 

let those writmgs be to thee as a muTor. ... I hen century, 
the back part of the Abbey terminates in a broad 
plain, no small portion of which a wall occupies, which 
surrounds the Abbey with its extended circuit. Within 
the enclosure of this wall many and various trees, 
prolific in various fruits, constitute an orchard resem- 
bling a wood. Which, being near the cell of the sick, 
lightens the infirmities of the brethren with no 
moderate solace, while it affords a spacious walking 
place to those who walk, and a sweet place for re- 
clining to those who are overheated. The sick man 



6o ENGLISH PLEASURE GARDENS 

sits upon the green sod, and while the inclemency of 
Sirius burns up the earth with his pitiless star, and 
dries up the rivers, he (the sick man) tempers the 
glowing stars, under leaves of the trees, into se- 
curity and concealment and shade from the heat of 
the day ; and for the comfort of his pain the various 
kinds of grass are fragrant to his nostrils, the pleasant 
verdure of the herbs and trees gratifies his eyes, and 
their immense delights are present hanging and 
growing before him, so that he may say not without 
reason, ' I sat under the shade of that tree, which I 
had longed for, and its fruit was sweet to my throat' 
The concert of the coloured birds soothes his ears 
with their soft melody ; and for the cure of our ill- 
ness, the Divine tenderness provides many consola- 
tions, while the air smiles with bright serenity, the 
earth breathes with fruitfulness, and he himself drinks 
in with his eyes, ears, and nostrils the delights of 
colours, songs, and odours." 
Carthusian The Carthusians, belonging to an order founded by 

peculiari- , . . 

ties. St. Bruno in 1084, dwelt in monasteries planned to 

isolate, as completely as possible, each member of the 
community. This was to fulfil the rules peculiar to their 
order, obliging them to live in absolute silence and soli- 
tude. Each of the brethren, like the Egyptian monks, 
occupied a detached cottage, to which was added in the 
twelfth century a small garden cultivated by its tenant. 




Gothic Fountain in the Cloister-garth, Newstead AiiiiEV. 
Photograph by R. Keene. 



MONASTIC GARDENS 6i 

Numbers of these cottages and gardens surrounded the 
cloisters and obviated the necessity of having large pieces 
of ground under cultivation. 

Among the orders of friars were the Dominicans, The 
founded by the Spanish Dominic, and the Franciscans, 
by St. Francis of Assisi, in the thirteenth century. 
Both lived according to different lights from the monks, 
despised all luxury, and took less pride in owning beauti- 
ful buildings and fine plantations. Wanderers over the 
country, preaching and begging for food wherever they 
happened to stop, unlike the members of other orders, 
the friars required but small establishments, and few 
cultivated acres for their food supply. 

An interesting abbey of exceptional beauty, once be- Newstead 

Abbey 

longing to the Dominicans, or Black Friars, as they were 
called from the colour of their habits, is still standing at 
Newstead on the former estate of Lord Byron. Although 
altered in many of its details, the lay of the land is un- 
changed, and the general effect is probably much the 
same as in the time of the friars. A large, square sheet 
of water, called the Eagle Pond, remains untouched, and 
near it is the old "stew," where fish were bred for the 
friars' consumption ; while the cloisters, restored by their 
present owners, and containing a good reproduction of a 
Gothic fountain in a square plot of grass, retain their 
conventual character. 

Once battlemented walls are supposed to have enclosed 



62 



ENGLISH PLEASURE GARDENS 



The Eagle 
Pond. 




THE. DOG'5 GRAVE .NE.'WSTEAD 



The par- the ground northeast of the Abbey now occupied by two 

terres near 

the Abbey. parteiTCs of flowcrs, edged with box and a square of grass 

planted with yew trees, 
shading a monument to 
the poet's favourite dog. 
Byron himself would also 
have been buried here, if his 
wish had not been disre- 
garded on the supposition 
that this was not holy 
ground ; though, in fact, as 
the monks' cemetery, it had been consecrated long before. 
Formerly, kitchen and physic gardens would naturally 
have been placed within the ancient enclosure where 
now are two box-bordered squares of flowers. Both 
are freely planted with all sorts of common annuals 
and perennials, — larkspur, bachelor's buttons, foxglove, 
and the like, — giving them the same delightful appear- 
ance as the quaint, old-fashioned gardens in New England. 
Outside the walls, but as was frequently the case, within 
bow-shot for the sake of their protection, lies the large 
oblong sheet of water known as the Eagle Pond. Its 
name is derived from a brass, eagle-shaped lectern, prob- 
ably hidden by the friars at the time of the dissolution of 
their order by King Henry VIII, and discovered centuries 
afterward lying at the bottom of this pond. The broad, 
green margin of grass is a characteristic feature, while 



MONASTIC GARDENS 63 

the summit of the bank, laid out in rectangular beds of 
flowers alternating with rectangular grass plots each sur- 
rounding a walnut tree, is an unusually charming for- 
mal arrangement. In a plan of the Abbey made at the 
time it was sold, about fifty years ago, this scheme of 
planting is shown to have been the same as now, and it 
probably dates back to a much earlier period. A twelfth- 
century description of a similar piece of water helps us 
to picture its part in the lives of the monks : — 

" Here, also, a beautiful spectacle is exhibited to the 
infirm brethren ; while they sit upon the green margin 
of the huge basin, they see the little fishes playing under 
the water, and representing a military encounter by swim- 
ming to meet each other. This water serves the double 
duty of supporting the fish and watering the vegetables." 

A break in the wall beside the walk, above the pond, is 
well contrived to give a glimpse of the fine trees in the 
beautiful park outside the enclosure. Here, perhaps, the 
abbot was wont to chase the hart, for the ecclesiastics of The monks 
old were very fond of hunting. The Bishop of Worcester men. 
writes in 1030 to his brother bishop of St. David's, who 
had promised him six couples of good sporting dogs, say- 
ing that " his heart languished for their arrival," and con- 
tinuing with the following entreaty: " Let them come, O 
reverend father, without delay. Let my woods reecho 
with the music of their cry and the cheerful notes of the 
horn, and let the walls of my castle be decorated with the 
trophies of the chase." 



64 



ENGLISH PLEASURE GARDENS 



The orchard. 



Other en- 
closures. 



Wild 
gardens. 








LEADEN STATUE AT NLWSTEAD 



An orchard was recently laid out beyond the Eagle 
Pond after some overgrown bushes and half-dead 

trees had been cleared away 
from its site. One of the 
main grass paths separating 
the plantation into four sec- 
tions is ornamented by two 
old leaden statues. These 
images of a faun and his 
mate were supposed by the 
ignorant country folk to 
have been worshipped by the 
uncle of the poet, popularly 
known as the wicked Lord Byron. 

Other walled enclosures contain a rosary and a de- 
lightful flower-bordered kitchen garden. Their general 
arrangement is as simple as possible, but the position 
and design of the seats and fountains, and the plant- 
ing of the beds, are contrived with so much taste and 
skill that the effect produced is exceptionally charming. 
Beautiful plantations of exotics, row upon row of 
rare Japanese iris, Alpine gardens and thickets of 
bamboo, are also well worth a visit. Taken as a 
whole, the gardens at Newstead are extraordinarily 
interesting as showing great variety of treatment and 
as containing a collection of distinct types, each brought 
near perfection. To their beauty a weird charm is 




^SCTIOM ON >l^*B 



MONASTIC GARDENS 



65 




decay of 
their gar- 
dens. 



added by recollections of the sacrilegious Byrons and 
their pious predecessors. Shades of the friars seem 
to flit in and out among the more substantial figures 
of the lame poet and his friends, whose favourite 
diversion was to masquerade in monkish raiment. 

Newstead, with many another monastery, lost much The dissoiu- 
of the glory or its original gardens at the time ot monasteries 
its dissolution by command of Henry 
VIII. Few others like it, however, 
have been restored and laid out again 
along their former lines. The curse, 
said to have been invoked by the 
monks upon their despoilers, is com- 
monly believed to prevent monastic 
lands from being handed down in 
direct succession. This seems idle 
superstition, but it is strange how 
often such property changes hands, 
and how seldom are left any traces of the monastic 
gardens. At Shrublands there are some fine old Spanish 
chestnut trees, said to have been imported by the monks 
and supposed to be the oldest in the country. Here 
and there, in different places, are the outlines of an 
ancient stew-pond as at Harley-on-Thames and at Hat- 
ton Grange, or a portion of the cloisters once enclosing 
the garth as at Ashridge ; but elsewhere in England it 
is difficult to discover more than a few scattered remains. 




^§^pSv^;:r' ''""'■ 



GARLANP nAHERb IN A PLEASAUNCE 



Norman in- 
novations 
and their 
antecedents. 



Charle- 
magne's 
gardens. 




CHAPTER III 

THE MEDIEVAL PLEASAUNCE 

NGLO-SAXON ways of living were 
greatly altered by the advent of the 
Normans in the latter half of the 
eleventh century. Gallo- Roman, unlike 
Britanno-Roman, civilization had never 



wholly died out even during the Dark Ages ; hence in 
arts and crafts the invaders came prepared to teach the 
inhabitants of England many new and important lessons. 
After the withdrawal of the Romans, the Frankish kings 
had continued to build villas in imitation of the clas- 
sic style, to which gardens were often attached. But 
of these gardens no detailed description written before 
the time of Charlemagne is extant. Then, in 812 a.d., 
that emperor's capitularies were published, giving par- 
ticular directions concerning the maintenance of his 
numerous orchards and gardens. In the long list of 

66 



THE MEDIAEVAL PLEASAUNCE 67 

vegetation he wished to have cultivated he mentions, 
among other flowers : lilies, roses, and poppies, besides 
naming many fruit trees equally familiar to us. " We 
desire," he dictated, " that in the garden there should 
be all kinds of plants." 

The Carolingian orchard and garden were practi- 
cally one and the same. It was often the scene of 
the May-field and of other important assemblies, as 
well as of the more homely events of daily life. Here 
Charlemagne is described as receiving the ambassa- charie- 

. ^ 11 1 • r f- • T magne in am 

dors from the last pagan knig or Spam. It must orchard, 
have been an impressive sight. " Fifteen thousand 
Frenchmen wearing satin tunics are stretched upon the 
white carpet. The king is seated on a massive golden 
throne, from which he overlooks all the barons with 
an almost priestly gravity; then suddenly the ten infi- 
dels enter the garden and make their way slowly 
through the crowd ; they are mounted on white mules 
with bridles of gold and saddles of silver. They carry 
olive branches in their hands, Eastern fashion, as a 
token of peace. It is a scene worthy of Virgil." 

" Le roi Charles est en un grand verger, 
Avec lui sont Roland et Olivier . . . 
lis sont assis sur des tapis blancs . . . 

Sous un pin, pres d'un ^glantier 

Est un fauteuil d'or massif, 

C'est la qu'est assis le roi qui tient douce France." 

— "Chanson de Roland," 



68 ENGLISH PLEASURE GARDENS 

Norman pre- In architecture, as well as horticulture, the Normans 

excellence in 1 1 i i a i o i • r i /^ 

architecture, excelled the Anglo-Saxons at the time or the Conquest. 
The fortalices and monasteries first built by the conquer- 
ors were a decided improvement on any previous erec- 
tions in England. These, however, were not the castles 
of which ruins now remain, but merely wooden towers or 
keeps, sometimes strengthened by palisades and ditches, 
used for defending important strategic positions for- 
merly surmounted with earthworks by the Danes and 
Saxons. But, until the Normans had subdued the entire 
country, home life was an impossibility, and there was 
no occasion for domestic architecture. Thus, while the 
early monasteries were substantial stone buildings, com- 
monly situated in the broadest and most fertile val- 
leys, castles were ruder structures, generally erected on 
windy hilltops, where their inmates devoted both time 
and space to projects for offence and defence. To har- 
bour in these bare strongholds such a peaceful pursuit 
as gardening would have been impracticable. After 
a few years, the danger of insurrection having lessened, 
the Normans replaced their first wooden structures 
by permanent castles built of stone. Still until the 
twelfth century the times were far from peaceful, 
and although agriculture and horticulture were among 
the favourite occupations of the Normans, these cannot 
have flourished extensively outside of monastic pre- 
cincts. At Deeping, however, ancient records show 




Castle with Terrace Walks, from the " Roman de la Rose." 



THE MEDIAEVAL PLEASAUNCE 69 

that a garden was laid out on the site of a ruined 
Roman villa by one of William the Conqueror's fol- 
lowers. A few other gardens probably existed under 
exceptionally favouring circumstances, although fre- 
quently threatened with devastation. But as an abun- 
dance and variety of fish and game took the place of 
vegetables in the diet of the upper classes, except in 
monasteries, horticulture was of no vital importance. 

A miniature on one of the pages of a beautiful fif- a Norman 

1 ■ r 1 T-> 1 1 T-» ?> castle as 

teenth-century manuscript 01 the " Roman de la Rose, portrayed in 
belonging to the British Museum, represents a Norman deiaRose." 
castle of the earliest substantial design. Here the 
massive stone keep, strongly protected by double crenel- 
lated walls, and by both an inner and outer moat, is 
intended as a representation of the Louvre in the time 
of Philip Augustus. Then a marvellous treasure was 
guarded there, symbolized in the romance as the 
Rose. Hedges of roses, in extraordinarily full bloom, 
line the walks beneath the ramparts. Underneath, the 
moats are deep enough to have contained a large sup- 
ply of carp to feed the garrison, and sufficiently broad 
to have permitted swans, also often eaten, to sail freely 
about on the surface of their smooth waters. 

During a truce of hostilities, life in such a feudal 
castle must have been as dull and isolated as on board 
a sailing vessel becalmed at sea. The bored passengers 
crowding on deck to watch a flock of sea-gulls devouring 



70 



ENGLISH PLEASURE GARDENS 



Plants as a 
diversion. 



Berkeley 
Castle 



Terrace 
walks. 



scraps of food suggest the listless lord in a mediaeval 
poem, seeking distraction by tossing bread and grain 
to the swans from his castle window into the moat 
below. Then, especially to the chatelaine and her 
women, a few plants must often have afforded as much 
diversion as the little flower whose care saved the reason 
of an imprisoned patriot and gave its name to the Italian 
story " Picciola." 

Of the early Anglo-Norman style of architecture, 
Berkeley Castle is perhaps the most complete example 
now existing. The keep is said to date from the time 
of William the Conqueror. The whole castle is still 
inhabited and preserved in almost its original condition. 
Around the massive building runs a terrace intended 
both for a walk and to prevent the walls from being 
mined by besiegers. One of these terraces, covered 
with grass and flanked by an ancient yew hedge clipped 
in the shape of rude battlements, forms a quaint bowl- 
ing green. How long it has been laid out as such 
is unknown, but probably for several centuries. 

Terraces, like the one adjoining these battlements, 
were, in those tumultuous times, the only safe place for 
the ladies to enjoy an airing. A portion was often re- 
served for their especial use, and, as at Castle Carlisle, 
called the Ladies Walk. There, at a much later period, 
Mary, Queen of Scots, when captive was allowed to take 
her exercise. At Bridgnorth, a pleasant terrace walk. 



THE MEDIEVAL PLEASAUNCE 71 

much admired by Charles I, encircles the ancient castle 
walls and is more than half a mile in compass. On 
the borders of such a terrace, beside the hedge, a few 
herbs were usually cultivated by the chatelaine to be 
used in sickness, or to make a poignant sauce for whet- 
ting the satiated appetite. 

At last the comparative cessation of internal warfare The devei- 

•11 1 opment of 

permitted the precmcts of the castle to become still less the pieas- 

1 • 1 r • T^i 1 1 aunce in 

restricted without loss of security. 1 hen the pleasaunce France, 
(developing from the terrace walk containing the little 
collection of herbs already described) began to enjoy 
a less precarious existence. In France, earlier than in 
England, its form became more clearly defined, and, by 
covering more area, answered more varied requirements. 
From contemporary documents its appearance has been 
reconstructed and described in detail by M. Georges 
Riat in " L'Art des Jardins " : — 

" In the twelfth century the garden was habitually sit- Description 

of a twelfth- 

uated outside the ramparts, and was entered from the century 

. . f . ~ . - garden. 

castle by a secret door in the fortifications. Later gar- 
dens, answering to the following description, were laid out 
in the courtyards of most seigneurial habitations. A 
fence, when the garden was in the courtyard, or palisades, 
when it was outside, surrounded it. A low wall, built 
in three parts so as to furnish a back for a grass-covered 
seat, formed a frame for intimate conversations. In a 
corner, a fountain in the Gothic style often served to 



72 ENGLISH PLEASURE GARDENS 

water the parterre and the greensward. Sometimes a 
round flower-bed might be found in the middle of the 
preaiix {pratelli), or flowered parterre. On the sides 
were cradle-shaped tunnels and trelliswork fastened to 
the walls. Sometimes a labyrinth, or house of Dcsdalus, 
twisted its tangled paths in conflicting directions. 

" Flowers grown in the parterre, or in pots on the wall, 
brightened the enclosures. Several trees, clipped into 
balls, gave shade and freshness to the air. The ingenuity 
of the gardener, like that of the topiarius of ancient 
Rome, was exercised in clipping the shrubs to give them 
geometric forms. Finally, if the space permitted, there 
, was a small basin of water for fish and swans. Great 

luxuries were to have an aviary for game-birds close 
by, and a number of peacocks strutting about under the 
eyes of the guests." 
Oriental Intercourse with Palestine had marked effect in de- 

veloping the gardens of the twelfth and thirteenth cen- 
turies. Many innovations were due to the Crusaders, 
who, in the peaceful intervals of their stay in the Holy 
Land, were often kindly received by their heathen 
adversaries and given many opportunities to study Ori- 
ental luxuries and add them to their bare homes in 
England. Not only the so-called Gothic arch, but many 
minor architectural features may have been due to Ori- 
ental influence. A great change was thus brought about 
in the details as well as in the general style of European 



influences. 



THE MEDIyEVAL PLEASAUNCE 73 

architecture, and its result was shown, not only in the way 
the gardens of the knights hospitallers were laid out, but 
in adding to the ornamental appearance of the pleasaunce. 

" Sos sarmasane avoit un vergi^ ondoiant 
De ciprfes, de loriers ; moult sont soef flairant, 
Li oisel i font joie et demainent lor chant. 
Sous del n'avoit ciere ente qui n'y fust voirement." 

An Oriental garden of marvellous beauty was described 
by the celebrated Venetian traveller, Marco Polo. He 
visited Palestine in the thirteenth century ; but the gar- 
den he speaks of with such admiration had already been 
in existence for probably nearly two hundred years. It 
was laid out for the famous Prince Hassan, from 
whose name and deeds were derived the words assassin 
and hasheesh. He was also called the Old Man of the TheoidMan 

of the Moun- 

Mountain because he dwelt on a mountain-side, where he tain's 

paradise. 

had constructed the wonderful garden which his followers, 
bewildered by hasheesh, confounded with a heavenly 
paradise. After once having been entranced in this 
elysium, they were willing to become assassins and to 
risk their lives in attempting to. murder Hassan's enemies 
for the sake of being rewarded by a return to his garden. 
The identity of the original Old Man became confused 
with that of his successors, and it is to the pleasure 
grounds belonging to one of these later princes that 
Marco Polo refers : " A very beautiful garden filled with 
all sorts of trees and fruits, and around these plantations 



74 



ENGLISH PLEASURE GARDENS 



An Oriental 
garden 
described 
by Sir John 
MandsTille. 



stood different palaces and pavilions decorated with 
works of gold, paintings, and furniture all in silk. There, 
in the little canals, one saw running streams of wine, milk, 
honey, and very clear water. There were lodged young 
girls, perfectly beautiful and charming, who were in- 
structed to play on all sorts of musical instruments ; one 
saw them perpetually walking in these gardens and 
palaces." 

Another description of a similar garden appears in the 
so-called " Travels " of Sir John Mandeville, a book first 
written in French and then translated into English at 
the close of the fifteenth century. The location of the 
garden he mentions was said to be the island of Milstrak. 

" That isle is very rich. There was dwelling not 
long since a rich man, named Gatholonabes, who was 
full of tricks and subtle deceits. He had a fair and 
strong castle in a mountain, so strong and noble that 
no man could devise a fairer or a stronger. And he had 
caused the mountain to be walled about with a strong 
and fair wall, within which walls he had the fairest 
garden that might be imagined ; and therein were trees 
bearing all manner of fruits, all kinds of herbs of virtue 
and of good smell, and all other herbs also that bear 
fair flowers. And he had also in that garden many fair 
wells, and by them he had many fair halls and fair 
chambers, painted all with gold and azure, representing 
many divers things and many divers stories. There 




Tkn'i and Ki.dwi.KV AIicDi:, from ax Eaklv TAri::sTRV. 



THE MEDI/EVAL PLEASAUNCE 75 

were also beasts and birds which sang delectably and 

moved by craft that it seemed they were aUve." 

There are a few architectural features now to be Architectu- 
ral features 

seen in English gardens, which can be directly attrib- of oriental 

origin. 

uted to Oriental influence. Bath-houses, for instance, 
were an Oriental luxury. Edward I is said to have 
imported the idea of their use from Palestine, and to 
have built the one existing near Leeds Castle in the 
thirteenth century. It is now used as a boat-house. 
Tents were another accessory to a garden adopted by 
the Crusaders. They were made of rich tapestries, for 
which the English were among the first of European 
nations to obtain a reputation. Their usual form is 
shown in the illustration, reproduced from one of a 
series of tapestries in the Cluny Museum. 

The planting of the Oriental gardens was also much 
admired by the Crusaders, and had its influence on 
European horticulture. 

" La trovent un vergier qui fu tous ais d'olive, 
Et de mout riches arbres qui sont de mainte guisse, 
Et li vergiers fu jouenes et li ante florie." 

Oriental flora were now cultivated throughout the west importation 
and north of Europe, as at an earlier period they had flora, 
penetrated throughout Italy and other southern coun- 
tries. The rose and the lily, both flowers of Oriental 
origin, had reappeared as early as the time of Aldhelm, 
the eighth century. The yellow Persian rose was 



76 



ENGLISH PLEASURE GARDENS 



Improved 
conditions 
in the 
thirteenth 
and four- 
teenth cen- 
turies. 



especially celebrated by the ancient Mussulman writers, 
and its European naturalization is said to date from 
this period. Another variety known as the rose of 
Provence was brought back by Thibaut IV, Count of 
Champagne, to Provins, where it grew until recently 
in the suburbs of the town. The name of the rose 
of Damascus, or damask rose, also betokens its Eastern 
origin. Not long ago Syrian daffodils still grew upon 
the ancient site of Horseley Castle, and Armenian 
violets survived in several places. Many other exotics, 
now considered almost as native plants since they are 
so familiarly known in Europe, were the fruit of 
Crusaders' pilgrimages in the East. 

At the close of the thirteenth and the beginning of 
the fourteenth century the connection between Erance 
and iMigland was very intimate. The P^rench language 
was spoken by the upper classes in both countries; and 
as to manners and customs in general, and their gar- 
dens in particular, the same fashions prevailed, although 
the French were somewhat in advance of the English. 
The description of a French garden in the twelfth cen- 
tury would answer for an English one during the two 



following centuries. 



Under the rule of the Plantage- 



nets the Anglo-Saxons and the Normans had become 
fused into the English nation. The great lords of both 
races generally dwelt in peace with each other, if not 
always with their kinsfolk across the Channel, and as 



THI' MEDIEVAL PLEASAUNCE yy 

has been said the Crusaders added much to then- 
knowledge of how to Hve luxuriously. Frequently at 
home there was leisure to give attention to domestic 
comfort and to engage in the peaceful contests of 
chivalry. Then the castle, becoming more than a bare 
fortress, was treated as a commodious residence for the 
lord and the little court of retainers living under his 
protection. Sometimes, as at Tattershall, in one house- 
hold, there were mure than a hundred people. 

To meet the new requirements, the tiiceiufe of the Expansion 

rr ' • ... 0^ castle 

castle was increased sufinciently to include within its grounds, 
walls and moat, besides more spacious living rooms, 
stables, outhouses, tiltyards, gardens, and orchards. 
At Framlingham the outer ballium, reached by a tim- 
ber bridge from the postern, is shown in the thirteenth- 
century plan to have been laid out as a pleasaunce. 

" The grete tour, that was so thikke and strong. 
Which of the castel was the chief dongeoun, 
Was evene joynant to the gardyn wall." 

As within the castle the wealthy lord sought to embel- 
lish the great hall, which often took the place of the 
ancient keep, with fine tapestry, richly carved furniture, 
and elaborately chased armour, so outside it he strove 
to decorate the gardens with fountains, arbours, and 
perhaps a maze. Often such a lord 

" Hadde, bihinden his paleys, 
A fair gardin of nobleys, 



78 ENGLISH PLEASURE GARDENS 

Ful of appel-tres, and als of pirie 

Foules songe therinne murie. 

Amideward that gardyn fre, 

So wax a pinnote-tre 

That had fair bovves and frut ; 

Ther under was al his dedut 

He made ther-under a grene bench, 

And drank ther under many a sschench (cupful)." 

— "The Seven Sages," Weber, III, 23. 

Culmination Under Edward I the mediaeval prosperity of the 

of pros- 
perity under EngHsh may be said to have culminated. It decUned 

Edward I. . ^ , . 

under the weak or warhke reiQ^ns of his successors, until 
during the Wars of the Roses much that civilization had 
gained seemed to have been lost. 
The king's " The improvement in husbandry and horticulture 
onhorticui- was as Satisfactory as the advance made in the fine 
arts. Here the influence of the king was specially felt. 
Though engaged in war or busy with legislative cares, 
Edward found time to attend to the cultivation of his 
desmesnes and the stocking of his gardens and 
orchards. Strangely mingled with the demands of the 
campaign against the Scots or with the requirements 
of the politician or the pleasures of the sportsman are 
directions to procure new cuttings of fruit trees and 
seeds of vegetables for the table. Fruit and forest 
trees, shrubs, and flowers introduced from the conti- 
nent were naturalized in the king's gardens or in those 
of the nobility and the larger religious houses. In 
' stately gardens ' both the lemon and orange were 



ture. 



THE MEDIEVAL PLEASAUNCE 79 

common, which could not be grown without artificial heat. 
Many of these were neglected and forgotten after his 
death, until even the memory of them so completely 
passed into oblivion that their reintroduction after the 
Wars of the Roses is spoken of as though they had 
never been known before. 

" Nor were the triumphs of horticulture limited to the importation 

of exotics. 

improvement in our indigenous fruits. New varieties 
were introduced at this time. Figs, oranges, lemons, 
citrons, almonds, and even olives are noted among the 
fruits growing in the gardens of some of the large land- 
owners of this country. These natives of a southern 
clime could not have ripened their fruits unless in ex- 
ceptionally warm seasons or by means of hothouses ; the 
evidence, however, that they existed is overwhelming."^ 

All classes of people now seem to have had gardens. Gardens be- 

. . ... longing to 

Those belonging to the king were principally in the aii classes 
neighbourhood of London, at Charing, Westminster, 
Clarendon, the Tower, and at Windsor Castle. In them 
were grown peaches, first mentioned, in 1276; pears and 
apples, of which several new varieties were introduced ; 
quinces and strawberries, well known to the Anglo- 
Saxons, and gooseberries, which seem to have been a 
novelty. There were also royal vineyards at Windsor 
and Westminster. One of the great nobles, De Lacey, 
Earl of Lincoln, cultivated extensive market gardens 

^ "England in the Fifteenth Century." Rev. W. Denton, M.A. 



8o ENGLISH PLEASURE GARDENS 

on the top of Holborn Hill and received from them a 
considerable revenue. Fitzstephen, in his life of 
Thomas a Becket, speaking of the suburban residences 
of the citizens of London, says, " On all sides outside 
the houses of the citizens who dwell in the suburbs 
there are adjoining gardens planted with trees, both 
spacious and pleasing to the eye." As the various 
colleges were founded, vineyards and herbaria (the 
beginnings of botanical gardens) were laid out in their 
neighbourhood, so that by the early part of the 
fourteenth century many fine orchards and gardens 
had become established, not only by the religious com- 
munities, but by the secular owners of the land. 
John de Gar- An Englishman, John de Garlande, who lived in 

lande's de- , . 

scriptionof Paris during the first half of the thirteenth century, 

a bourgeois 

garden. gave a dcscriptiou in his " Dictionarius " of the contents 
of a town garden in either France or England. " In 
Master John's garden are these plants: sage, parsley, 
dittany, hyssop, celandine, fennel, pellitory, the rose, the 
lily, and the violet; and at the side {i.e. in the hedge) 
the nettle thistles and foxgloves. His garden also 
contains medicinal herbs; namely, mercuiy and the 
mallow agrimony, with nightshade and the mangold." 
There was besides a garden for pot-herbs, where grew 
borage, leeks, garlic, mustard, onions, cibols, and scallions ; 
and in his shrubbery grew pimpernel, mouse-ear, self-heal, 
buglos, adder's-tongue, and " other herbs good for men's 



THE MEDIAEVAL PLEASAUNCE 



bodies.". In the fruit garden were cherry, pear, apple, 
plum, quince, medlar, peach, chestnut, walnut, and fig 
trees, besides grapes. 

The following fifteenth-century description by Lyd- 
gate of a rich churl's garden gives an idea of the arrange- 
ment in many smaller gardens a century before : — 

" Whilom ther was in a smal village, 
As myn autor makethe rehersayle, 
A chorle, whiche hadde lust and a grete corage 
Within hymself, be diligent travayle 
To array his gardeyn with notable apparayle, 
Of lengthe and brede yelicke square and longe, 
Hegged and dyked to make it sure and stronge. 

AUe the aleis were made playne with sond, 
The benches turned with newe turves grene, 
Sote herbers, with condite at the honde, 
That welled up agayne the sonne schene, 
Lyke silver stremes as any cristalle clene 
The burbly wawes in up boyling, 
Round as byralle ther beamys out shynyge." 

— " The Chorle and the Birde," 

John Lvdgate. 

Dining in the garden was also common in warm 

weather. 

" Les napes metent pardeanz un jardin." 

— " Mort de Garin," p. 28. 

Afterward people were in the habit of playing chess 
there, as we see them in a garden scene reproduced 
from the " Romance of Alexander." Notwithstanding 



The garden 
of a rich 
churl. 



82 



ENGLISH PLEASURE GARDENS 



Queen 

Eleanor's 
garden at 
Woodstock. 




The Gardener. 



the rudeness of many of their habits, and their fondness 
for the brutal excitement of war and the chase, lives of 
adventure had highly developed the imaginations of 

the upper classes, and given 
them a taste for living 
amidst beautiful surround- 
ings. Then, both by art and 
nature, people seemed made 
for gardens, and gardens for 
people to an extent which 
we can hardly appreciate 
nowadays. 

Above all, the pleasaunce 
was intended for the diversion of the chatelaine. As 
early as 1250 we learn from a contemporary record that 
Henry III, to gratify Eleanor of Provence, ordered his 
bailiff at Woodstock " to make round about the garden 
of our Queen two walls good and high so that no one 
can enter, with a well-ordered herbary befitting her posi- 
tion, near our fish-pond, where the said Queen may 
roam about freely." Here she might have meditated 
in solitude under a leafy bower, have enjoyed a tete-a-tete 
with a bosom friend enthroned on a turfed seat, or in 
pleasant company have paced up and down the sanded 
alleys. 

As an agreeable alternative from the smoky castle 
hall, the pleasaunce was evidently the favourite place for 




Castle Garden, from a Picture kv Dierick Boutts. 



THE MEDIEVAL PLEASAUNCE 83 

recreation. It was often chosen for giving audience 

and receiving friends. In the " Romance of Garin le The 

Loherain " the messenger found the great baron seated 

in a garden surrounded by his friends. 

" Trouva Fromont scant en un jardin 
Environ lui avoit de ses amins." 

"Roman de Garin," I, 282. 

There entertainment was furnished by the troubadours, 

who sang their Chansons de Geste, interspersed with 

romances of the Crusades, of prowess, and of love ; by 

the jugglers and tumblers, who performed wonderful 

tricks and gymnastic feats ; and by the dancing-girls, 

whose graceful motions were of an Oriental character. 

The guests themselves also frequently carolled, or 

danced in a circle, sang songs, and played upon 

musical instruments for their own diversion. 

" Tho myghtist thou karoles sene, 
And folk daunce and mery bene, 
And made many a faire tournyng 
Upon the grene gras springyng. 
There myghtist thou se these flowtours, 
Mynstrales and eke jogelours. 
That wel to synge dide her peyne, 
Somme songe songes of Loreyne ; 
For in Loreyn her notes bee 
Full svvetter than in this contr^." 

Garland weaving was a favourite occupation for Garland 
ladies. Both men and women wore chaplets of flowers and wearing. 
on festive occasions, and they were also given as 



84 ENGLISH PLEASURE GARDENS 

rewards for success in various sports. Chaucer speaks 
of the month of May as especially the season for 
weaving garlands. In " The Pastime of Pleasure," 
La Bel Pucel is described by the portress at the 
garden-gate as seated within thus employed : — 

" 'Truly,' quod she, ' in the garden grene 
Of many a swete and sundry flowre 
She maketh a garlonde that is veray shene, 
Wythe trueloves wrought in many a coloure, 
Replete with sweteness and dulcet odoure 
And all alone, wythout company, 
Amyddes an herber she sitteth pleasauntly." 

And again she is described weaving a chaplet or 
wreath to be worn on the head. 

" Besyde which fountayne the moost fayre lady 
La Bel Pucel was gayly sittyng 
Of many floures fayre and ryally 
A goodly chaplet she was in makynge." 

In the "Lai d'Aristote " (Barbazon, III, 105, 107) 
King Alexander's beautiful mistress is described as 
descending early in the morning, walking in the 
garden alone, and making herself a chaplet of flowers. 
In another fabliau, cited by Wright and published by 
Keller, a Saracenic maiden descends from her chamber 
into the garden, performs her toilet at the fountain 
there, and then makes herself a chaplet of flowers and 
leaves, which she puts on her head. Then we read in 



THE MEDIJEVAL PLEASAUNCE 85 

the Knight's Tale how the fair Emelie was wander- 



ing 



about in her garden at sunrise while — 



e> 



" She gadereth floures, party white and rede, 
To make a subtil garland for hire hede 
And as an aungel hevenysshly she soong." 

The beauty of a jewel was never more enhanced by an 
appropriate setting than the loveliness of gentlewomen 
by the fanciful environment of this mediaeval pleasaunce. 
Fresh as the " new flowers of sondry hewe," in her trail- 
ing robes fashioned " summerwise," her head wreathed 
with a chaplet of fragrant roses, her bright eyes sparkling 
in the sunshine, the " fayre ladye " was indeed the crown- 
ing joy of a very paradise. And as she was its most 
beautiful ornament, so was it her chief delight. 

The " Roman de la Rose " gives the best possible idea information 
of both the French and English gardens of the Middle the"Ro- 
Ages. It was chiefly written by Guillaume de Loris, in ^e'^Ros^e." 
the first half of the thirteenth century, and was prob- 
ably well known in England before it was translated 
by Chaucer into English. There are several manu- 
script copies of it containing descriptions in the text, 
accompanied by illustrations giving vivid pictures of the 
pleasaunce. Its form, the walls enclosing it, with their 
surrounding moat; the subdivisions of latticework; the 
" flowery mede," shaded by fruit trees, with a fountain in 
its centre ; and the stone-coped beds, containing clipped 
shrubs and other smaller plants, are clearly shown from 



86 ENGLISH PLEASURE GARDENS 

various points of view. The arrangement is full of 
charm. In the most important of these illustrations 
(which is on the opposite page, and was taken from a 
fourteenth-century Flemish manuscript preserved at the 
British Museum), the garden is shown as a whole, 
ornamented with many quaint details. It is enclosed 
by a crenellated wall, surrounded by a moat. The 
subdivisions are formed by a fence of wooden trellis- 
work, on the topmost railing of which is balanced a 
peacock. In the left-hand division is a copper fountain 
head, where the water, spouting from lions' mouths, 
drips into a circular basin, and runs off through a marble 
channel embedded in the turf. Velvety grass, thickly 
sprinkled with daisies, surrounds the fountain and forms 
a soft seat for the little company of merrymakers who 
are singing and playing upon musical instruments. The 
rich texture of such a carpet of turf was often dwelt upon 

in poetry: — 

" About the brinkes of these welles 
And by the stremes over al elles 
Sprange up the grasse as thick y-set 
And soft as any veluet, 
On whiche men myght his lemman ley 
As on a fetherbed to pley." 

A garden Evcry kind of a plantation was contained in some 

contained in . . , , i t re j. 

enclosure, fomi of an cuclosure, as IS evident trom the ditterent 
words applied to it; all, like the French courtil, sug- 
gesting its original location in a courtyard. A garden^ 



an 




Pleasaunce, from the •• Roman ue la Rose." 



THE MEDIEVAL PLEASAUNCE 87 

according to the derivation of the word from zerd, garth, 
or yard (three nouns from the same Aryan root as the 
French word jardin), originally signified a walled but 
unroofed enclosure containing cultivated vegetation. 
Usually this vegetation principally consisted of herbs, 
grass, or fruit trees. Thus there were wyrt-zerds, grass- 
zerds, ortzers, cherry-zerds, and apple-zerds, or yards, the 
prefix specifying more or less exactly the contents of 
the circumscribed space. 

This enclosure protected the vegetation from ma- Seciusioa 

requisite 

rauders, and secluded its occupants. Privacy was a very and neces- 
sary, 
important characteristic of the garden. Inside the castle 

there was scant opportunity for confidential conversa- 
tion. So when people wished to talk without being 
overlooked or overheard, they were apt to retire to the 
pleasaunce. For lovers especially it was a favourite 
meeting-place. 

" Into the gardyn go we, and ye shal here 

Al pryvely of this a longe sermon : 

With that thei wenten arm and arm yfere, 

Into the gardyn from the chambre doun. 

x\nd when that he so fer was, that the soun 

Of that he spake no man heren mighte "^ 

He seyd hire thus, and out the letre plyghte." 

— " Troylus and Cryseyde." 

For the sake of seclusion as well as safety the garden 
was, therefore, surrounded by high and thick walls, fences, 
or a hedge, and usually still further defended by a moat. 



88 ENGLISH PLEASURE GARDENS 

" And all was walled that none throu it wid were 
With posterns in pryvtie to pasen when him hst 
Orche-ardes and erberes well dene." 

— " Piers Plowman." 

Walls. The walls were built of stone until brick came into 

use, and varied, of course, in height and thickness. 

** Amongst other of his honest thinges 
He had a gardyn walled al with stoon, 
So fair a gardyn wot I no wher noon." 

— "The Marchaundes Tale," Chaucer. 

Their summit was generally finished with battle- 
ments or crenellations. 

" I saw a garden right anoon, 
Full long and broad and everidele, 
Enclosed was and walled well 
With highe walls embattailed." 

Fences. The earliest fences were commonly wattled, that is, 

woven of osiers. Others, more ornamental, were formed 
of rails or of pickets, and painted green. 

Hedges. Hedges often enclosed the later gardens, instead of 

walls. The bushes used for this purpose were privet 
(thus called perhaps because it served to insure pri- 
vacy), thorn, sweetbrier, and yew. 

" The hegge as thick as a castle wall, 
That who that list without to stand or go, 
Though he would all day prien to and fro 
He shoulde not see if there were any wighte 
Within or no ! " 



THE MEDL'EVAL PLEASAUNCE 89 

Moats were also common. In the " Chorle and Moats, 
the Birde," Lydgate describes the garden of the rich 
churl as "hegged and dyked to make it sure and 
strons:." The water served for fish and swans. 

In form the enclosure containing the pleasaunce, Rectangular 
garden, or orchard was preferably square or oblong. 

" The gardyn was by mesurying 
Right evene and square : in compassing 
It was as long as it was large." 

The entrance was through a postern or gateway in The 

entrance. 

the wall sometimes surmounted by battlements, and 
always barred by a stout wooden door fastened with 
a massive iron lock. Idleness is shown, in the accom- 
panying illustration from the " Roman de la Rose," 
admitting the knight-errant through such a postern 
into the enchanted enclosure. A side door in the 
castle furnished another means of ingress. Through 
this side door, across the pleasaunce, and out the pos- 
tern was a way of leaving the castle unobserved. It 
was thus that the beautiful pagan, Rosamond, de- 
scended to succour the wounded and insensible Elias 
of St. Giles, as described in one of the Chansons de 
Geste, and by the same means she and other suaves 
pucelles were in the habit of passing out in spring- 
time to gather flowers. 

" Quand vient el mois de mai por colir la florete." 

— " Elie de St. Giles." 



90 



ENGLISH PLEASURE GARDENS 



The flowery 
mede. 



Subdivi- 
sions. 



T\\^ flowery mede, or a grass plot thickly dotted with 
flowers, was perhaps the simplest form of a garden, 
and the one first known to our mediseval ancestors. 

" Ful gay was all the ground and queynt, 
And poudred as men had it peynt 
With many a fresshe and sondrie floure, 
That casten up ful good savour." 

There is a good representation of this kind of plant- 
ing with but slight indications of beds in the wonder- 
ful series of fourteenth-century tapestries preserved 
at the Cluny Museum. The lady with her hand- 
maiden, and her pet falcon, dogs, monkeys, and rabbits, 
is standing on a plot of flowery greensward, enclosed 
by a railed wooden fence overgrown with roses. This 
plot, as may be discerned, consisted of a circular bed 
carpeted with thick grass intermingled with low-grow- 
ing flowers such as daisies, violets, hyacinths, and pinks. 
It is brought out more or less clearly in different 
sections of the tapestry. Such a 
preau, or bit of meadow convention- 
alized, was a common and very 
delightful portion of the pleasaunce. 
Of late years it has been reproduced 
in modern gardens. 

Gradually, as the cultivated ground 
extended, it came to be divided into compartments. 
These subdivisions were usually formed of latticework 



-'.'-. V 



r3 c^,'.'^'- 




THE MEDIAEVAL PLEASAUNCE 



91 



with square or diamond-shaped apertures, more or less 
ornamental as during the classic era. 

Then there were beds for plants, raised several inches Beds, 
above the level of the path, retained by a stone coping, 
and fenced in with wattles, latticework, or open wooden 
railings. Fruit trees and herbs predominated, for as yet 
flowers were given no especial prominence in the garden. 

" This yerde was large and rayled all th aleys, 
And shadowed wel with blosmy bowes grene, 
And benched newe and sanded all the wayes 
In which she walketh arm in arm between." 

— Chaucer's "Troylus and Cryseyde," Liber Secundus, 820. 

The main paths or alleys, as described in the last Alleys, 
quotation, were covered with sand, and usually broad 
enough for two or three 
people to pace abreast. 
Narrower paths were in- 
tended to facilitate the 
weeding of the beds. 

Resting-places in plenty 
were provided for those 

who found walking or standing tiresome. Simple 
benches cushioned with turf were built into embrasures 
or against the wall. Earth banked up around the trunk 
of a tree, grassed over and held in place by wattled 
osiers, formed a circular seat. In the centre of the 
garden a three-sided exedra constructed of stone or 




■' %^v;;l^&';V^'ii-;'^>^ 



A\AUG15 AND 'LA BEILLE OEIANDE 



Seats. 



92 



ENGLISH PLEASURE GARDENS 



The bower 
or arbour. 



brick, covered with grass and flowers, often formed the 
most important feature. In the picture here given the 
two seated ficrures are the lovers described in the fol- 
lowing words: — 

" Oriande et Maugis se trouverent en ung jardin pour 
eulx esbattre et deviser en passe temps, apres ce qu'ils 
avoient dine et que I'eure estoit de prendre un petit 
repos. C'est au mois de mai, le temps ou tous les 
oysillons se degoisent, et si sont tous vrais amans a 
penser a leur amour." 

Arbours or bowers were wooden structures covered 
by shrubs and vines, and usually shading a comfortable 
seat. Originally in Anglo-Saxon 
times the bower, or bur, had been 
a small building containing a bed- 
chamber, or a room especially in- 
tended for women. Thus we often 
read of the ladies' bower, and of 
a bird in bitre, a lady in her bower. 
But gradually the word came to sig- 
nify a summer-house in a garden. 

. . " A pleasant herber well ywrought 
That benched was, and eke with turfes newe 
Freshly turved, whereof the grene gras, 
So small, so thicke, so short, so fresh of hew, 
That most ylike green wool, I wot, it was ; 
The hegge also that yede in this compas, 
And closed in all the grene herbere 





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Garden Scenes, from the " Roman de la Rose. 



THE MEDIAEVAL PLEASAUNCE 



93 



With sicamour was set and eglatere, Arbours. 

Wrethen in fere so well and cunningly 
That every branch and leafe grew by mesure 
Plain as a bord, of oon height by and by. 

***** 

And shapen was this herber roofe and all 
As is a prety parlour." 

— "The Flower and the Leaf," Chaucer. 

Water in various forms was always, if possible, intro- water- 
works. 
duced into the garden. Fish-ponds, bathing pools, and 

fountains were common. Usually 
the central and most ornamental 
architectural feature of the pleas- 
aunce was a fountain. The earliest 
of an ornamental appearance were 
apparently of Oriental design, similar 
to the w^ell-known one in the clois- 
ters of Monreale above Palermo, and 
to that reproduced from a photo- 
graph taken of an early piece of 
tapestry in the South Kensington 
Museum. But, of course, architectural treatment of foun- 
tains, as of other details, underwent the same evolution 
from Romanesque to Gothic, and from Gothic to 
Renaissance, as did architecture in general. 

A maze or labyrinth was frequently laid out in or 
near the garden. An early form seems to have con- 
sisted of a network of underground passages, making 




94 



ENGLISH PLEASURE GARDENS 



Topiary 
work. 



The maze. 



the approach to a hidden bower almost impossible to the 
uninitiated. Several of these mysterious subterranean 
labyrinths existed in England, the most celebrated 
one being that constructed by Henry II to conceal 
fair Rosamond's bower at Woodstock. The bower, in 
her case, was a small stone building enclosing a well, 
a large enough dwelling-place for one or two people. 

Sometimes the fountain was covered with an arbour 
and placed in the centre of the garden. 

" Amiddes the garden so moch delectable 
There was an herber fayre and quadrante, 
To paradyse right well comparable, 
Set all about with floures fragraunt, 
And in the myddle there was resplendys haunte, 
A dulcet spring and marvaylous fountaine 
Of golde and asure made all certayne." 

Topiary work was not unknown, as is evident from 
the descriptions in various poems and the illustrations 
in many manuscripts. A clipped tree often formed 
the central feature of the garden. 

" Amyddis the gardyn stode a fressh laurer 
Theron a bird syngyng bothe day and nyghte." 

Pious architects engraved labyrinths on the floors of 
cathedrals, as on the one at Chartres, so that the 
faithful, as has been ingeniously suggested, in following 
its tortuous ways might accomplish the semblance of a 
pilgrimage while their compatriots were on their way to 



THE MEDIEVAL PLEASAUNCE 



95 




Garden 
games. 




the rescue of the Holy Sepulchre. Possibly the garden 

labyrinth may have originated in the same sentiment, 

thousfh as time went on it came to be 

considered as merely affording diversion 

or purely as an ornament. Hedges 

edged the paths and an arbour marked 

the hidden centre. 

Certain games were considered appro- 
priate for the garden, among them 
tennis, bowling, and archery. But ten- 
nis courts, archery and bowling greens 
will be described in the account of 
Tudor gardens, where they were brought to greater 
perfection. 

Other features of the garden, also constructed at a Animal in- 
mates of the 
later date, were menageries, aviaries, apiaries, and dove- garden. 

cotes. Birds and bees everywhere added much to 

the charm of the garden. Swans swam in the basins 

and moat, peacocks strutted along the alleys and 

perched on top of the walls, and doves flew to and 

from their spacious homes. All these were served up 

as delicacies at meals. Of wild birds there were a 

great variety ; some are mentioned in the " Romance of 

the Rose." 

" For certys, as at my devys, 
Ther is no place in Paradys 
So good inne forto dwelle or be, 
As in that gardyne, thoughte me. 



96 ENGLISH PLEASURE GARDENS 

For there was many a bridde syngyng 
Through-out the yerde al thringyng. 
In many places were nyghtyngales, 
Alpes, fynches, and wodewales." 

Theherbary. If a large number of herbs were cultivated, they 
were sometimes set apart in an herbary. But many 
flowers which are now considered purely ornamental 
were then supposed to have healing properties, or to 
be fit ingredients for sauces and savouries ; so the 
herbary was not strictly devoted to the plants we 
should consider as herbs. Besides the plants grown for 
medicinal and culinary purposes, were others intended 
to be distilled into love philters and perhaps poisons. 
The orchard in the Middle Ages was practically 

The orchard, indistinguishable from the garden or pleasaunce. A 
precious description of it, which might equally well be 
applied to the garden of the period, was written by 
Albert the Great in a chapter of his " De Naturis 

Description Rcrum," Called " De Plantatione Viridariorum." " In the 

by Albert _ ,, i i i • 

the Great, nrst placc, he says, "the whole site must be planted 
with the finest grass seed trodden into the ground by 
foot, forming an actual carpet of verdure, than which 
nothing could be smoother than the level surface. 

" At one of the extremities facing the south, trees 
were grown, pears, apples, plums, laurel, cypress, and 
the like, interlaced with vines whose foliage protected 
the turf and furnished a fresh and agreeable shade. 




'V-T—T^ 






THE MEDIEVAL PLEASAUNCE 97 

" Behind the turf was planted a quantity of aromatic 
and medicinal herbs, for example, rue, sage, and basil, 
whose perfume would rejoice the sense of smell ; then 
certain flowers, such as the violet, ancolie, lily, rose, 
iris, and others similar, which by their diversity 
charmed the eye and excited the admiration." Finally, 
at the extremity of the turf in the space reserved for 
flowers there was raised a seat formed of earth and 
covered with grass and flowers, where one could " rest 
one's body and refresh one's spirit." 

The orchard in those days contained, besides a 
variety of fruit trees, herbs for medicinal and culinary 
purposes and a few flowers, also fountains, seats, and 
the other architectural features of the pleasaunce. 
Many fruit trees are said to have been imported from Fmit trees 

of French 

France, especially in the thirteenth century, and hence origin, 
were known by French names. Among the varieties 
of pears were the rule or regul, the passe-pucelle, 
and the caloel or caillou. Pearmain and costard 
apples were probably also of French origin. Cherries 
had been reintroduced at the time of the Norman 
Conquest. Peaches, medlars, quinces, and chestnuts 
were commonly cultivated and imported from abroad. 

Grafting was a craft well understood. Scions of Grafting, 
ten or twelve distinct varieties of trees were grown 
upon an oak stock. Vines were grafted on cherries 
and plums on vines. 



98 ENGLISH PLEASURE GARDENS 

The last The last of the castle gardens retaining a mediaeval 

of the . 

mediaeval character were those surrounding the great French 
chateaux. The difference between them and the new 
order of arrangement arising from the Renaissance was, 
/ that each section was more or less isolated, and treated 

as sufficient unto itself, instead of being connected with 
a series of enclosures all symmetrically disposed about 
the castle. But the approaching transition is apparent 
in the increasing symmetry of the plan as a whole. 

In " Les Plus Beaux Bastiments de France," written 
and illustrated with many views and plans, Androuet 
du Cerceau gives an excellent idea of these gardens 
as they appeared when upon the point of being 
superseded by the forerunners of Le Notre. Accord- 
ing to his testimony there were, especially at Blois, 
" quantities of large and fine gardens, differing from 
each other. Some having large alleys surrounding 
them, others covered with carpentry, others with nut 
trees, others with vines trained over them." 

Gaiiion. Gaillon, constructed under Louis XII for the 

Cardinal d'Amboise, is perhaps the most interesting 
of these gardens, as can be seen from the illustration. 
Near the dwelling were two fine gardens separated by 
a terrace, adjoining "a gallery of sufficiently good 
arrangement in the antique style, which looks out 
over the valley." One of these gardens was finished 
with " another fine and pleasing gallery worthy of being 



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THE MEDIEVAL PLEASAUNCE 



99 



so called on account of its length and of the manner 
it is erected, having a view on one side of the garden, 
and on the other of the said valley toward the river." 
In the middle of tne garden was a pavilion, covering 
apparently a fountain of white marble. The other 
garden was placed in the valley. Near it the Cardinal 
had erected an " isolated or Carthusian dwelling-place, 
abounding in every pleasure." 

But what of the mediaeval pleasaunce remains in 
England to-day? Unfortunately, very little. More 
than half of the six or seven hundred castles built 
between the Norman Conquest and the reign of Henry 
VIII have entirely disappeared, many others have 
fallen into dis- 
use, and of those 
still inhabited 
few retain their 



original sur- 



roundings. 

Perhaps the 
most satisfactory 
survival is at 
Penshurst. Here 

the gardens were replanted about fifty years ago, but 
they must have been laid out at a much earlier date. 
It vividly recalls the mediaeval pleasaunce, although 
differinor from it in certain details. There are embattled 




DIANA'S POOL-.PENSHUR5T 



Penshurst. 



L.ofC. 



lOO ENGLISH PLEASURE GARDENS 

stone walls surrounding the main enclosure ; a bower or 
banqueting house, also of stone, on one of the terraces 
near the castle or palace ; a flowery orchard, a large 
oblong fish-pond, high clipped hedges, and a garden of 
pleasant flowers spreading beneath the palace windows. 

The flowery The Orchard is exceptionally delightful ; its alleys are 
bordered with flowers, and a profusion of foxglove 
and other hardy annuals grow beneath the apple and 
pear trees, which are planted at a regular distance apart. 

other At the extreme south end of the walk, which extends 

along the west side of the main garden, there was 
formerly an open pavilion, which has unfortunately dis- 
appeared. Leading from the terrace on the main house 
level is a yew walk or alley, known as the " winter 
walk," and built for one of the ladies of the family 
for winter exercise. Outside the garden walls is an alley 
of beautiful beeches known as " Clarissa's walk," since 
it was a favourite spot with the lady to whom the poet 
Waller gave this name, a member of the Sidney family. 
It is difficult to mention another pleasaunce retaining 
more than one or two mediaeval features. At Sudeley 
Castle a part of the gardens were relaid out on old 
lines about fifty years ago. There are high yew hedges 
with birds quaintly clipped on top and covered alleys, 
but the choice of flowers has not been in keeping with 
the rest. In other places survivals or reproductions 
have been even less complete. 







•flsi:^Sgrrg 



'lj<— -.,./^.,. -.<tjA>^^ . 



CHAPTER IV 



TUDOR GARDENS 




ARLY in the sixteenth century the peaceand 
Middle Ages were over. The Tudor 
accession brought the Wars of the Roses 
to an end and inaugurated a new epoch. 
Then assurance of internal peace, accom- 
panied by great changes in social and political life, fur- 
nished a basis for the renaissance of art. When law and 
order were firmly established, people no longer — by 
herding together within the fortified precincts of castle 
or monastery — sought safety in numbers. Instead of 
being obliged to live protected by the lord of the 
manor, or attached to various religious communities, 
each family now existed as a distinct unit of society and 
required a separate home. Moderate-sized mansions 
of brick or stone were therefore constructed, more or 
less elaborately according to the wealth and social 
position of their owners, as dwellings for the previous 



102 



ENGLISH PLEASURE GARDENS 



New sites 
for dwell- 
ings. 



occupants of the massive feudal strongholds. The 
spirit of feudalism had died out before the close of 
the fifteenth century; its form also gradually dis- 
appeared. Castles were first disused and then disman- 
tled as they ceased to fulfil the altered requirements. 
In 1540, when John Leland was sent by Henry VIII 
on a tour of inspection, he reported that most of 
these ancient fortresses were running to decay, and 
barely mentioned in connection with them any sem- 
blance of a pleasaunce. 

The sites of the new dwellings were not chosen like 
those of the castles, on account of their inaccessibility. 
It was no longer essential to consider strength before 







A TUDOR MANOR HOU5E: EYAM HALL DERBYSHIRE 



convenience. Now, instead of seeking a defensible 
position, people preferred situations that were pleasant 
and salubrious, where they might live protected from 
the cold winds, and where gardens and orchards might 



TUDOR GARDENS 



103 



be cultivated advantageously. Thus, like the earlier 
monastic edifices, a gentleman's house was built oftener 
in a valley than on a hilltop. Here there was more 
room for expansion, and near the house the grounds 
under cultivation could be extended to answer the 
increasing demands for various kinds of plantations. 

At first both house and gardens still seem to have 
been protected not only by walls, but with a moat. 
Such was the residence of Edward 
Stafford, Duke of Buckingham, at 
Thornbury. Before its completion 
he was beheaded, and a survey of 
his estate, added to the state papers, 
is dated May, 1521. From this 
description (which is all that re- 
mains of the gardens now) it appears 
that they were well supplied with galleries and arbours, 
or, as they are quaintly entitled, " roosting-places." 

" On the south side of the inner ward is a proper Thornbury. 
garden, and about the same a goodly gallery convey- 
ing above and beneath from the principal lodgings 
both to the chapel and parrish church. The utter 
part of the said gallery being of stone embattled, and 
the inner part of timber covered with slate. On the 
east side of the said castle or manor, is a goodly gar- 
den to walk in, closed with high walls embattled. The 
conveyance thither is by the gallery above and beneath 




104 



ENGLISH PLEASURE GARDENS 



Disuse of 
defensive 
accessories 
in domestic 
architec- 
ture. 



and by other privy ways. Besides the same privy 
garden is a large and goodly orchard full of young 
graffes well-laden with fruit, many roses, and other 
pleasures. And in the same garden are many goodly 
alleys to walk in openly. And round about the same 
orcharde is conveyed on a good height other goodly 
alleys with roosting-places covered thoroughly with 
white thorne and hasel. And without the same on 
the utter part, the said orchard is enclosed with 
sawin pale, and without that ditches and quickset 
hedges. . . . From out of the said orchard are divers 
posterns in sundry places at pleasure to go and enter 
into a goodly park newly made." 

Gradually battlements, moats, and other defensive 

accessories entirely ceased to 
be built in connection with 
the house, and were retained 
only to secure the gardens 
from intruders and for the 
preservation of the trees and 
plants from severe winds and 
the depredations of marauders. 
For, since the garden was no 
longer under the protection 
of the castle wall, it needed 
special defences. Many of the moats have since been 
condemned as unhealthy, and destroyed from time to 




GAHDEN-DooR;CANOh]b AbHBY 



TUDOR GARDENS 105 

time, but others remain, and are still stocked with fish, 
as at Losely and Hunstanston. At Helmingham the 
house and garden are each surrounded by a moat, and 
exist in nearly their original condition. 

Cardinal Wolsey's palace and grounds at Hampton Woisey's 

gardens at 

Court were among the latest to be made secure by Hampton 

Court. 

moats as well as walls. It was in these gardens that 
the cardinal was accustomed to walk at the close of 
day as he recited even-song. His fondness for this 
recreation and the beauty of the gardens (which were 
located near the Pond Garden, and no longer exist) 
are described by his disciple Cavendish : — 

" My galleries were fayer both large and long 
To walk in them when that it lyked me best. 

" My gardens sweet enclosed with walles strong 
Embanked with benches to sytt and take my rest. 
The knots so enknotted, it cannot be expresst 
With arbors and alyes so pleasant and so dulce 
To pestilent ayers with flavors to repulse." 

There was no abrupt transition from the style of The transi- 
tion gradual. 

the Middle Ages to that of the Renaissance in Eng- 
lish gardens. Many Gothic features were long retained, 
of which remnants are still in evidence, — the carved 
stonework, the conduits, the walks, and arbours. Trel- 
liswork, as used to surround the beds, remained in 
fashion with but slight variations throughout the 
reigns of the Tudors. 



io6 



ENGLISH PLEASURE GARDENS 



Royal 
gardens. 



Hampton 
Court in the 
hands of 
Henry VIII. 



Among the royal gardens of this time were those 
already existing and kept up at the Tower of Lon- 
don, Baynardes Castle, Wanstead, and Westminster, 
those renovated at York Place and Whitehall, and a 
new one at Nonesuch. 

But the finest of the Tudor gardens were at Hamp- 
ton Court, where Wolsey's work was almost entirely 
swept away to make room for the improvements de- 
signed by Henry VOL These changes covered part 




THE POND GARDEN AT HAMPTON COURT 



of the space between the palace and the river, and 
the only portion now remaining is the small enclos- 
ure known as the Pond Garden. Of oblong shape, 
surrounded by an outer wall of brick, the ground is 



TUDOR GARDENS 107 

laid out on three different levels, with low retaining The Pond 

■•I ■. . i- ... Garden. 

walls and copings or stone ; in this stone one can see 
the holes whereby were fastened the thirty or more 
heraldic beasts which formerly served to strengthen 
the wooden railings striped with white and green, the 
royal colours. Above one corner of the wall appears 
a battlemented banqueting house built by Henry VII. 
In the centre of the enclosure is a round fountain, on 
a line with the entrance at one end and a vine-covered 
arbour opposite. The present planting is unworthy 
of special attention ; but from the royal accounts we 
know that among the flowers originally ordered for 
the garden in Henry VIII's time were "violettes and 
Primroses, Gilliver-slips, mynts, and other sweet flowers. 
100 Roses at 4d the hundred. Sweet Williams at 3d 
the bushel." It was weeded and watered by women at 
twopence a day. In this garden young Henry VIII 
carried on his first flirtations with Anne Boleyn, and 
here, when overtaken by infirmities, he used to hobble 
about in his premature old age. 

The literature of this period relating to gardens Early 
was also slow to develop fresh and individual char- 
acteristics. This chiefly consisted of herbals translated 
from the Latin, as they had been previously by the 
Anglo-Saxons and by the Anglo-Normans. Begin- 
ning with the " Ortus Sanitatus," published in 1485, 
sprang up a new crop of these books, which were of 



io8 



ENGLISH PLEASURE GARDENS 



greater interest to the archaeologist than to the prac- 
tical gardener. Among these the most important was 
the " Grete Herbal," printed about 1516, followed by a 
new translation of a herbal by Macer, a classic writer 
whose works had been well known in the Middle 
Ages. But Turner, a scholar of much distinction, was 
the earliest author of a herbal giving the names of Eng- 
lish plants. His books, the " Libellus de Re Herbaria," 



The first 
English 
books on 



The miinerof watering \vitK aPumpein atubLf. 




the " Names of Herbes," and a " Herbal," were pub- 
lished in the second quarter of the sixteenth century, 
and throw some light upon the gardening as well as 
upon the botanical researches of his time. 

Andrew Borde is the first writer who gave directions 
gardening, in English as to how to plan a house and grounds. 



TUDOR GARDENS 109 

Much of his advice was practical, although often he saw 
fit to drag in a somewhat irrelevant quotation from the 
Bible, or a passage from some classic author to which 
we should not attach much importance. He was soon 
followed by Thomas Tusser with " A Hundredth 
Pointes of Good Husbandrie," which has been inter- 
estingly edited under the auspices of the English Dia- 
lect Society. Hills " Profitable Arte of Gardening " 
and his " Gardener's Labyrinth " also add to our infor- 
mation concerning the gardens of this period. 

The choice of the site was given careful considera- Location 

. of the dwell- 

tion, and an unexpected importance was attached to ing. 
the view. " After that a man have chosen a conven- 
ient soyle and place ... he must afore cast in his 
mind that the prospect to and fro the place be pleas- 
ant, fair and good to the eye to behold the woods, the 
waters, the fields, the dales, the hills as the plain 
ground." In the opinion of all the early writers the 
garden and orchard were always to be located as near 
as possible to the house, and to be considered as an 
integral part of the same premises. 

The approach to the house and gardens was through Theap- 

11 1 . proach. 

one or more courtyards, where peacocks sometimes 
answered the purpose of watch-dogs. 

" The peacock is a bird of more beautified feathers peacocks as 
than any other that is, he is quickly angry, but he is 
far off from taking good hold with his feet, he is 



no 



ENGLISH PLEASURE GARDENS 



Do7e-cote3. 




.Xtii''#;'....i'i'..„ 



DOVE-Cor:CRA?ToN MANOR 



The confines 
and en- 
trance. 



goodly to behold, very good to eat, and serveth as a 
watch in the inner court, for that he spying strangers 

to come into the lodging 
he faileth not to cry out 
and advertise them of the 
house." 

Doves too dwelt in the 
courtyard or in the garden. 
" A dove-house is also a nec- 
essary thing about a man- 
sion place," Borde says. The 
illustrations show two dove-cotes of Norman types; 
the earlier form is round. 

The confines of the garden still remained rec- 
tangular, sometimes forming a perfect square, or an 
oblong as in the illustration in the middle of page 
1 08. As before, walls, a quickset hedge, or a fence 
always surrounded the garden. There were several 
entrances. The principal one 
was usually a doorway open- 
ins from the house or from 



Ingress for 



the house court 
the gardener, and a gate espe- 
cially for the owner correspond- 
ing to the postern of the Middle 
Ages, were also provided. Borde says, " The false 
gate (otherwise called the back or field gate on that 




DOVL-COT : niLTON 



TUDOR GARDENS 



1 1 1 



side toward your nieadow), made for your own going 
in and out alone, shall be set out and orarnished with 

O 

two chevrons set 
upon one main tim- 
ber and no more, 
and four or five bat- 
tlements above and 
shut with a strong 
door for that way 
you shall go into 
your house privily, 
and in like sort q-q 
forth aeain when it 




msM 



GARDEN DOORWAY •-RISLEY 



seemeth good unto you." Many of these posterns, 
often battlemented, continued to be built during the 

Renaissance. There are 
examples at Tissington, 
Swanopston Hall, etc. 




Now we come to the The main 
. T-> 1 ouUines. 

garden itself. As Borde 
wrote, "It is a commodious 
thing to a mansion to have 
an orchard of sundry fruits, 
but it is more commodious to have a fayre garden 
with herbes of aromatyke and redolit savoures." The 
earliest plan giving a good idea of its chief charac- 
teristics is reproduced here from an illustration in 



112 ENGLISH PLEASURE GARDENS 

the " Gardener's Labyrinth." As to its main out- 
Hnes it is not unlike the Pond Garden at Hampton 
Court, which has already been described in this 
chapter. A square piece of level ground is shown 
surrounded by a wooden paling, and within it a second 
enclosure fenced with latticework, strengthened at 
intervals by wooden posts; also an entrance through 
a double door protected by a heavy-corniced doorway, 
but not battlemented as it would have been, almost 
invariably, at a somewhat earlier period. Opposite 
to each other, in the middle of two edges of the 
outer enclosure, are a well and an arched arbour, both 
of good and simple designs familiar to us beside the 
old farm-houses in New England. In the centre of the 
inner enclosure a cluster of beds, intended for flowers, 
is laid out in geometrical designs. Other beds, oblong 
in shape and varying in width, form a series of borders 
for less ornamental plants. The corners of the central 
border are accented by circular beds. Between the 
outer paling and the inner latticework is another space 
filled with oblong beds, probably intended to contain 
the pot-herbs. 
Intermix- < The intermingling of ornamental with useful plants 

ture of the • i i • • i-* i 

useful with coutmucd to be common. As an mnovation, Borde 
mental. rccommcnded that there should be two divisions sepa- 
rated by a broad-hedged alley. One of these sections 
was to be devoted to pot-herbs, the other to "quarters 



TUDOR GARDENS 



113 



and pulse together with a place for bee-hives." Some- 
times, too, fruit trees were placed in a special enclos- 
ure. Generally in the smaller gardens all sorts of 
vegetation were included, and herbs, grown for medici- 
nal purposes " to turn up their house and to furnish 
their pot," were side by side with those cultivated 
principally for their beauty. By " turning up " the 
house was meant strewing the floors with sweet-smell- 
ing herbs, a prevalent practice before the introduction 
of carpets and still continued in a few churches. 

Among the more ornamental plants grown in the List of 

plants cul- 

garden were the acanthus, asphodel, auricula, amaranth tivated. 
(flower gentle or Jlower amor), cornflower (or bottle 
blew, red, and white), cowslip, daffodil, daisy, gilly- 
flower (red, white, and carnation), hollyhock (red, white, 
and carnation), iris [Jlower 
de luce or the Jlos delici- 
arum of the Middle Ages), 
Indian eye, lavender, lark- 
spur {larkes foot), lily of the 
valley, lily (white and red), 
double marigold, nigella Ro- 
mana, pansy or heart's-ease, 
pink, peony, periwinkle, 
poppy, primrose, rocket, 

roses of many sorts, including the sweetbrier or eglan- 
tine, snap-dragon (snag dragon), clove gillyflower 



1 




















^ 


















THE Four quartern, of a knot 



114 



ENGLISH PLEASURE GARDENS 



Quarters 
and knots. 



Tbi Country Houfevifis Gjrden. 



(sops-in-wine), sweet-william, sweet-john, star of Beth- 
lehem, star of Jerusalem, stock gillyflower, tuft 
gillyflower, velvet flower (French marigold), violet, 
wallflower, and besides, sweet-smelling herbs, such as 
mint and marjoram. 

As a matter of decoration, the shape of the flower- 
beds rather than their contents was considered of 

importance. The four quar- 
ters formed by the main 
alleys, which intersected the 
middle of the garden, were 
enclosed by a latticework 
fence or striped railings fast- 
ened to posts or to carved 
beasts. These quarters were 
subdivided into knots. The 
knot was either a geometri- 
cal pattern or the outline of 
some fanciful shape, such 
as a dragon, kept in place 
by a coping of wood, brick, stone, or tiles, and 
edged with box or some other border plant. The 
design of the knot was known as open or closed, 
according to whether it was merely outlined with 
a border plant, and strewn inside the outlines 
with coloured sands, or was filled with growing 
flowers. 




TUDOR GARDENS 



115 



" Then we went to the garden glorious, 
Like to a place of pleasure most solacious 
With Flora painted and wrought curiously 
In divers knottes of marvaylous greteness ; 
Rampande lyons stood up wonderfly 
Made all of herbes with dulcet sweetness, 
With many dragons of marvaylous likeness. 
Of divers floures made ful craftely. 
By Flora couloured with colours sundry." 

The more rare and beautiful flowers were planted 
in the knots, and clipped evergreen shrubs accented 
the corners of the beds or the centre of the garden. 

A maze, or labyrinth, was another favourite orna- The maze, 
mental design, and sometimes filled the place of the 
knots. Occasionally it was planted with hedges high 
enough to conceal the intricacies of the paths, and to 










force the uninitiated to wander long 
upon the outskirts, unable to penetrate 
within ; but often it was merely out- 
lined with lavender or some other low- 
growing plant, and served simply as a 
form of decoration. The central object 
point was usually an arbour or a clipped 
tree. 

Trelliswork of wood was as much em- 
ployed as it had been in the Middle Ages. It usually 
formed a diamond-shaped lozenge, as in the illustra- 
tion, and was employed to fence in the flower-beds 




Trellis- 
work. 



y^ii6 



ENGLISH PLEASURE GARDENS 



Arbours. 



Banqueting 
houses. 




YEW coronet; elvastoN 



and to cover arbours and galleries. Solid wooden 
posts, placed at intervals to support the lattice, formed 
a pleasing contrast. 

Every garden contained one or more arbours. In 
the " Gardener's Labyrinth " two kinds are described 
in detail. One had a square-topped 
the other an arched roof. Both 
were constructed of wallows or osiers 
" so winded that the branches of 
the vine, melon, or cucumber run- 
ning and spreading all over, might 
shadow and keep both the heat 
and the sun from the sitters there- 
under." Fragrant rosemary, jasmine, and roses of 
various sorts, especially the sweetbrier or eglantine, 
were also trained over the trellis, which often rested 
on a part of the wall. As was remarked by an old 
writer, " The herbers erected and framed in most 
gardens are to their much refreshing and delight." 

More solid constructions of brick or of stone were 
useful in winter as well as summer, as they were fur- 
nished with chimneys. Such a one, on a large scale, is 
still to be seen at Hampton Court, and is called the 
banqueting house. Another, which has now disap- 
peared, was built for Elizabeth of York at Windsor. 

Long covered walks formed another important feature 
in every garden. Sometimes they passed between 



TUDOR GARDENS 



117 



hornbeam walk at Hatfield, or the one of witch elm, walks. 



lines of clipped trees pleached to form an arch, like the Gaiienes 
hornbeam walk at Hatfield, or t 
called Queen Mary's, at Hamp- 
ton Court. At other times the 
arches were constructed of wood- 
work and covered with vines. 
One of the advantages of these 
walks was that under their shade 
it was possible to go from one 
part of the garden to another 
without being exposed to the sun. 
Beneath the arbours, and in 
other spots covered or uncovered, were placed seats seats and 
and tables convenient for reading and writing, where 



A PLEACHED ALLEY HATFIELD | 








) 


y 


'■ w 






-^-^ __ _ 




also refreshments might be served. Most often these 
were arranged at the ends of the paths or around the 



u^ 



ENGLISH PLEASURE GARDENS 



The mount. 



Carved 
beasts. 



Sun-dials. 



fountain. In the illustration is seen a characteristic 
example from the "Gardener's Labyrinth." 

Another feature developed at this period was the 
mount, a mound of earth usually covered with 
grass and serving as a lookout over the garden wall 
into the park. Often it was capped by an arbour 
or a simple seat. There was a very large mount at 
Hampton Court, constructed in 1533. It was built on a 
brick foundation covered with earth and planted with 
twelve hundred quicksets. On the summit was a spa- 
cious summer-house. 

Carved animals of stone or wood, upholding little 
weather-vanes, were especially characteristic of this 
period. At Hampton Court, those erected by Henry 
VIII included harts, lions, greyhounds, hinds, dragons, 
bulls, antelopes, griffins, leopards, rams, tigers, and 
badgers. They were distributed all over the gar- 
dens and orchards, and stood at intervals on tlie posts 
between the railings, on the stone coping around the 
terraces and flower-beds, and on top of the mount. 

A number of sun-dials were also scattered about, 
both for use and ornament. Henry VIII apparently 
ordered them by the dozen. Sun-dials had existed in 
England before the Roman invasion, but interest in 
them seems to have been especially keen during the six- 
teenth century. A German protege of Henry VIII, 
named Kratzer (whose portrait by Holbein, now in the 



TUDOR GARDENS 



119 



Louvre, shows him with a small sun-dial in hand), wrote 

a book on sun-dials and designed two to be placed at 

Oxford, where he was a lecturer on 

astronomy and mathematics. The 

first book in English devoted to 

dialling was published in 1533, and 

was largely a translation from Wit- 

kendus. At this period the actual 

dial was more fanciful than at a 

later date and often formed 

armillary sphere. 



an 




A water supply was considered a very important Receptacles 

for water. 

adjunct to the garden. A central feature was often a 
well or fountain fed by a spring, or a cistern " well 
mortarred to receive and keep rain-water." Cisterns 
were also made of lead and decorated in such a way as 
to make them very ornamental. Borde advises that there 
should be also a " pool or two for fish, if the pool be clean 
kept." Such pools were usually lined with stone, and 
square or oblong in shape. Good examples of them 
exist at Drayton and Brickwall. 

Various games were played in the garden or its Garden 
vicinity. Bowling-alleys and greens for archeiy were 
common. " And among other things a payre of buttes 
(targets for archery) is a decent thing about a mansion, 
otherwise for a great many necessary it is to pass his 
time with bowls in an alley." No dimensions are given. 



games. 



^120 ENGLISH PLEASURE GARDENS 

All that was required was a stretch of good, firm turf 
or gravel. Tennis was another favourite game. Henry 
VIII was passionately fond of tennis. Sometimes he 
used to play in the walled court for " close tennys play " 
at Hampton Court, which is the oldest one in England, 
and has since served as a model for many others. A 
crowd of spectators always watched the king playing. 
Giustiniani describes him as " extremely fond of tennis, 
at which game it is the prettiest thing in the world to 
see him play, his fair skin glowing through a shirt of 
finest texture." Lawn tennis, or ''open tennis play',' was 
another favourite diversion. 
Summary of Briefly, the garden was now a homely enclosure, 

the Tudor ,.,,,.. . ... 

garden. liKC the livmg room m a smiple house contaming 
few, but good-sized, apartments. Sometimes one large 
enclosure answered many purposes. First of all it 
contained the medicinal herbs, for primarily garden- 
ing was considered a profitable art because it was " so 
chayned and linked to the noble arts both of physic 
and surgery as by no means possible it may be to 
separate the one from the others, but rather as a daily 
handmaiden continually serveth them both." Then 
it answered the purpose of the pleasaunce, provid- 
ing alleys and arbours for people to walk on and sit 
under, besides ground for games. Finally, it supplied 
a mixture of vegetables and flowers for use and 
ornament. The flower-garden proper, however, was not 



TUDOR GARDENS 121 i^-'^ 

commonly to be seen until the reign of Queen 
Elizabeth. 

The orchard, if not actually a part of the garden, The orchard, 
was placed near it and similarly ornamented. Sun- 
dials and beasts carved of wood are mentioned in the 
royal accounts as having been ordered for Henry 
VIII's New Orchard, at Hampton Court, in 1530. 
Leland, in his " Itinerary " written in the middle of 
the sixteenth century, speaks of topiary work as 
lining the walks and decorating other parts of 
orchards. He relates that "at Uskeele village about 
a mile from Tewton is a goodly orchard with walks, 
opere topiaris," and at Wreshill Castle he describes 
another where there were " mounts opere topiaris 
writhen about in degrees like turnings of cokil shells 
to come to the top without payne." Novelties in the 
orchard at this period were raspberries and goose- 
berries, which, with strawberries, were abundantly 
grown. Tusser says that in September — 

" The Barbary, Respis, and Gooseberry too 
Look now to be planted as other things doo. 
The Gooseberry, Respis, and Roses al three 
With Strawberries under them trimly agree." 

— " Five Hundred Points of Good Husbandry." 

Among existing private pleasure gardens, the one 
most resembling those described as belonging to the 
early Tudor period is at Longleat. Symmetrical Longieat. 



•1 



22 



ENGLISH PLEASURE GARDENS 



without being monotonous in its plan, formal without 
being rigid in its planting, cosey without being 
cramped in its dimensions, it might be cited as the 
perfection of a small out-of-door dwelling-place for 
plants and people. The plan could have been 
designed only by one possessing a knowledge of 
architecture, although, with the exception of the 
fountain and conservatory, it might be carried out 
without "invegetate ornamentation." 

The house at Longleat is a large and somewhat 
elaborate edifice in the style of the late Renaissance. 

Formerly, stif¥ pleasure grounds 
laid out by London and Wise 
t^i^;&J''. in the reign of William and 
K{p^!^\ Mary surrounded three sides of 
this mansion, or rather palace, 
while on the fourth side it 
opened into a spacious forecourt. 
But this extensive arrangement, 
forecourt and all, was swept 
away by "Capability" Brown, who 
substituted the picturesque planting now seen, as the 
residence is approached, with no visible separation, 
except the driveway, between the front door and 
the park. In order to compose well with a house of 
such magnificence, if closely connected with it, the 
gardens must necessarily have been carried out on 




PAVILION LOHGLEAT 



TUDOR GARDENS 123 .-^^ 

a scale of grandeur making them only suitable as a 
parade-ground for a large number of people. It is The relation 

of the house 

not surprising, therefore, that when a garden-lovmg to the 
ancestress of the Marquess of Bath, the present 
owner, designed a new pleasaunce, it was detached 
from the mansion, although near by. This is often 
the best arrangement when, in order to coincide 
with the buildings, gardens would be required entail- 
ing greater expense or elaboration than seems desir- 
able or practicable. 

Although laid out only half a century ago, in The general 

effect. 

general effect and detail there is much to suggest 
that this is a reproduction of a Tudor flower-garden 
and was uninfluenced by foreign fashions. The 
ground plan is an almost perfect square, as was 
always recommended by the early authorities, while 
the iron arches covered by Virginia creepers, clema- 
tis, wistaria, China roses, and other climbing plants 
produce much the same effect as the arched wooden 
trellis or arbour, common in the sixteenth and seven- 
teenth centuries, and existing at an earlier date. 
Besides many minor points of resemblance, there are 
here to be found the three fundamental characteristics 
of an old garden: an outer enclosure, clearly defined 
subdivisions, and differences of level. 

The enclosure is formed by a boundary hedge, one Hedges and 

arbours. 

hundred and eighty feet long and about ten feet high. 



124 ENGLISH PLEASURE GARDENS 

extending along three sides, while a wall of stucco and 
the conservatory form the fourth. On one side the 
hedge is of clipped yew, while the other two are of 
rhododendrons allowed to grow freely. Along each of 
these three sides runs a walk about eight feet wide, 
supported by a stone retaining wall and raised three 
steps above the level of the parterre ; opening from 
this walk are vine-covered arbours shading wooden 
benches commanding the whole enclosure. Two of 
these arbours are semicircular in plan with arched tops, 
while two are rectangular and flat-topped. The gar- 
den sides are left open so that " the owner's friends 
sitting in the same may the freelier see and behold 
the beauty of the garden to their great delight." 
The The main body of this garden is divided by the two 

principal cross paths into quarters, subdivided into knots, 
while outside runs a border laid out in elaborate geo- 
metrical patterns. But it must be remembered that any 
, stiffness of effect is far less apparent in reality than in 

V the plan, since actually the garden is never seen from a 

bird's-eye point of view. Flowing lines give freedom 
and variety to borders which if severely rectangular 
might appear set and uninteresting ; and miniature 
hedges, enclosing the different arrangements of flowers 
in distinct divisions, make it possible to mass the colours 
more or less separately. The subdivisions are marked by 
borders of Berberis Darwmii^ Colorcaster Hookeriana, 








-K 



VATH TO HOWSJE 



"^w 



•^^s. 



THE PLO'WER GARDEN 

LONGLEAT " "WTILTS 
inAH.QUESS or BATH 



@ 



TUDOR GARDENS 125 

or of common yew or box. The paths, slightly bevelled 
to shed water, are of clay mixed with small pieces 
of flint, pounded and rolled until so hard and com- 
pact that the surface affords no foothold for weeds. 
The outer border is treated like a series of closed 
knots ; that is, the patterns, outlined with yew or box, 
are close or filled with flowers. Among these are 
eight beds planted with gladioli and white stock, 
eight with tiger-lilies and white snap-dragon, and eight 
with salpiglossis. The three beds forming a quarter 
of a circle at each corner are filled with salvia. Inside 
the border the earth is raised above the level of the 
path nearly as high as the top of the yew edging. 
Each corner is accented by a cone-shaped yew on the 
outer and a trim rose-bush on the inner angle. 

Next, and separated from the border only by a path Theopea 
and a flat band of grass, come the quarters. These 
are divided into open knots of variegated holly and 
yew, the golden foliage of one contrasting with the 
dark green of the other. A basket-shaped vase of 
flowers marks each corner with a bright spot of colour 
rising above the masses of closely clipped foliage 
forming the knots. 

Encircling the fountain is a curved bed divided into 
four sections by the cross paths and planted with pink 
pentstemon. Crimson rambler roses are trained over 
the arches of iron tubing, and the Isaac Perrier rose 



i/i26 ENGLISH PLEASURE GARDENS 

covers the chains suspended between them over the 
beds. These numerous rose garlands give finishing 
touches to the unusually festive appearance of the 
garden. In the herbaceous border next the outer 
hedge, and running like it around three sides of the 
enclosure, are growing some sixty or seventy different 
kinds of plants. Among them are monkshood, asters 
of many sorts, canterbury bells, coreopsis, helianthus, 
helenium, pyrethrum, phlox, etc. 
The The only purely architectural feature is the orangery, 

oiangery. i i r i 

a very good example or a seventeenth-century conser- 
vatory, intended rather for displaying plants when they 
have reached perfection, than for rearing and fostering 
them as in a modern greenhouse. It serves also as a 
meeting-place for games and conversation, like a casino. 
The style of architecture resembles that of the house, 
but it was built at a later period. 
The In the centre of the garden is its sole piece of 

sculpture, a marble fountain, with a fluted cup around 
which three children hand in hand are dancing in a 
basin of water. This is, of course, more in the style 
of the late Renaissance than in that of the early Tudor 
period. A jet of water spouts from the bottom of the 
cup and overflows into the basin below. Such an 
arrangement is suggested by Worlidge, who says, " In 
the centre of your garden is a fountain of spring water 
always flowing, serving not only to refresh the spirits 



TUDOR GARDENS 



127 



of such that delight in the sight of it, but is necessary 
in dry and hot seasons to preserve your choicest plants 
from injury." 

The principal ideas in this small garden might easily 
be reproduced and could be simplified by making the 
fretwork of the beds less elaborate. Although the 
hedges and borders entail a good deal of labour in 
trimming, they play quite as important a part as the 
flowers in producing the general effect. 

One of the last of the Tudor or first of the Eliza- Montacute. 
bethan gardens is at Montacute. As shown in the 
plan below, the pleasure grounds are contained in three 
enclosures. At two corners of the smallest are quaint 
pavilions called "gazebos." 




THE CARPEHS 
rtONTACUTE • S0MIK3ET 







CHAPTER V 



Elizabethan 
develop- 
ments. 




THE ELIZABETHAN FLOWER-GARDEN 

HE fruitful age of Queen Elizabeth 
brought both the planning and the 
planting of the loveliest English gar- 
dens very nearly to perfection. When 
the other arts of the Renaissance had 
reached their maturity and were on the verge of decline, 
garden making began to develop rapidly. Most of 
the finest houses in England were built at this period. 
After their erection an attempt to give them fit 
surroundings was a natural sequence. All conditions 
were ripe for the evolution of delightful pleasure gar- 
dens, which for form without formality have never been 
surpassed. Both the art and craft of their construction 
were understood as certainly never before, and perhaps 
never afterward. Like the gardens described in Sid- 
ney's "Arcadia," these were places "not fairer in natural 
ornaments than artificial inventions." 

128 



^^^^^^^^Bf^Sm'^'^SB- 




'* ,::!§-•; ;;:r'' , ■•\, ^ 




■>'^^ 


^R" ir>'''^^''T^^i. ■" /J' ■;.:?:,' v'.'T ;"-■■■'•••■;' 1' 








m 


to-^ -i^ f 


irljMfi^i ■■• "■ 




""' ■' — ^^"^^irt " if^ ' 'i ^J^ ■^' 


^'^■IHHH'.v 

















THE ELIZABETHAN FLOWER-GARDEN 129 



As an art this garden making was imbued with the As an art. 
creative as well as the imitative spirit of the Renais- 
sance. Men's eyes were opened, as if for the first time, 
to the charmino^ aspects of life old and ^F^^^^^ 
new, past and present. A delight in the kI 
beauty of nature as well as in that of 
artistic invention seemed to develop spon- fe 
taneously. Its practical outcome was the 



creation of a style of decoration known as that of the 
early English Renaissance, which was applied to every 
branch of design, and finally clothed the garden in 
fanciful array. 

Past records, especially of classic Greece and Italy, as a craft, 
were searched for information concerning the growth 
and arrangement of plants and the garden's architec- 
tural features. The early books on horticulture, 
such as Hill's "Arte of Gardening," teem with 
quotations from Columella, Cato, and other ancient 
husbandmen who were considered great authorities. 
Gerard, in his herbal published in 1597, says, for 
instance : — 

" Besides these and other causes there are many classic 
examples of those that have honoured this science ; for ^"^^^ 
to pass by a multitude of philosophers, it may please 
your Honour to call to remembrance that which you 
know of some noble Princes that have joyned this 
studie with their most important matters of state : 



130 



ENGLISH PLEASURE GARDENS 



Growth of 
individual- 
ity. 



Mithridates the Great was famous for his knowledge 
herein as Plutarch noteth ; Euan, also, King of Arabia, 
the happy garden of the world for principal simples, 
wrote of this argument as Plinie sheweth ; Diocletian 
might he have his praise, had he not drowned all his 
honour in the blood of his persecution. To conclude 
this point, the example of Salomon is before the rest 
and greater, whose wisdom and knowledge was such, 
that he was able to set out the nature of all plants from 
the highest cedar to the lowest moss." 

Early in the Renaissance the advice of these classic 
writers was offered by Thomas Hill and other English 
authors, apparently on the supposition that it would be 
followed literally, without considering 
that the passage of centuries and 
the difference between Italian and 
English customs and climate might 
destroy a part of its usefulness. But 
the Elizabethan age continued after 
the death of Elizabeth, and in the 
seventeenth century the growth of individuality made 
slavish imitation impossible. Precedent was followed 
only when suitable, and useless traditions were cast 
aside. Then systems of horticulture were evolved, 
adapted to a particular age, climate, and country. 
Each nation had its own orarden literature. In this 
direction the French took the lead, and in the " Maison 



W "W 



GATIDEN GATES PEN5HURbT 



THE ELIZABETHAN FLOWER-GARDEN 131 



Rustique," translated by Markham, it was first pointed 
out that " The frame and toil used on our French 
Country Farms be not alto- 
gether like that of former and 
ancient days." 



Sir Hugh Piatt in " Floraes 






^rf^tn" 



V\ 



y^~\ 






P%) 




CATE.-WAY : PACKWOOD/ 



Paradise," Markham in his 
books on gardening, and Law- 
son in " A New Orchard and 
Garden " show the develop- 
ment of a style of gardens 
particularly appropriate to England. The descriptions 
given by Markham and Lawson are especially inter- 
esting. 

Cautiously the idea was introduced at this time that a Gardens as 

• 1 1 • • 1 r 1 useful oma- 

thmg of beauty might be an excuse m itselt, and meats, 
this led to the garden of pleasure, or flower-garden. 
But orchards, herbaries, and kitchen gardens were 
not done away with, and at the outset even the 
pleasure garden was excused as having a useful side. 
For instance, in the " Maison Rustique," the author 
concludes his statement that " the most pleasant 
and delectable thing in our French gardens is the 
flower garden as well in respect as it serveth the 
chief lord whose inheritance it is to solace himself 
therein," by adding, " as also in respect to their ser- 
vice to set beehives in." Gerard also points out that 



132 



ENGLISH PLEASURE GARDENS 



Influence of 
the discov- 
ery of 
America. 



most gardens were of practical service as well as 
pleasure-giving, in fact, useful ornaments. 

" For if delight may provoke men's labour, what 
greater delight is there than to behold the earth 
apparelled with plants, as with a robe of embroidered 
worke, set with orient pearls, and garnished with 
great diversitie of rare and costlie jewels? If this 
varietie and perfection of colours may affect the eie, 
it is such in herbes and flowers that no Apelles, no 
Zeuxis ever could by any art expresse the like ; if 
odours or if taste may work satisfaction, they are 
both so soveraigne in plants, and so comfortable 
that no confection of the Apothecaries can equal 
their excellent vertue. But these delights are in the 
outward senses : the principal delight is in the minde, 
singularly enriched with the knowledge of these 
visible things, setting forth to us the invisible wisdom 
and admirable workmanship of Almighty God. The 
delight is great, but the use greater and joyned often 
with necessitie." 

The discovery of the New World largely increased 
the range of horticulture. When England joined 
in the great maritime movement carried on by 
other nations from the middle of the fourteenth 
century, her explorers returned with ship-loads of 
" outlandish commodities." Among these imports was 
an abundance of plants. Just as the art of gardening 



THE ELIZABETHAN FLOWER-GARDEN 133 

had been developed by the fresh appreciation of the 
beauty of classic design, so the desire to naturalize 
these exotics stimulated gardening as a craft. 

A good comparison between the decadent condi- improve- 

/• 1 • 1 I'll- ment in hor- 

tion or gardens m the past, compared with their pros- ticuiture. 
perity in his day, is prefaced by Harrison to the second 
edition of Holinshed's "Chronicles," published in 1580. 

" Such herbs, roots, and fruits as grow yearly out 
of the ground have been very plentiful in the time 
of the first Edward and after his days; but in the 
process of time they also grew to be neglected, so 
that from Henry the Fourth until the latter end of 
Henry the Seventh and the beginning of Henry the 
Eighth there was little or no use of them in Eng- 
land, but they remained either unknown or supposed 
as food more meet for hogs and savage beasts than 
mankind." 

After relating at length how good husbandry had 
become almost a lost art, he begins to expatiate upon 
its reestablishment. 

" If you look into our gardens annexed to our 
houses, how wonderfully is their beauty increased 
not only with flowers, which Columella calleth ' Ter- 
rena Sidera,' saying ' Pinget in varios terrestria sidera 
flores,' and variety of curious and costlie workmanship, 
but also with rare and medicinable herbs sought up 
in the land within these forty years, so that in 



134 ENGLISH PLEASURE GARDENS 

comparison with this present the ancient gardens were 
but dung-hills and laistowes to such as did possess 
them. How art also helpeth nature in the daily col- 
ouring, doubling and enlarging the proportion of our 
flowers, it is incredible to report ; for so curious and 
cunning are our gardeners now in these days that 
they presume to do in manner what they list with 
nature and moderate her course in things as if they 
were her superiors. 
Naturaiiza- " It is a world also to see how many strange herbs, 

tion of 

exotics. plants, and annual fruits are daily brought unto us 
from the Indies, Americans, Taprobane, Canary Isles, 
and all parts of the world. . . . There is not almost 
one noble gentleman or merchant that hath not great 
store of these flowers, which now also begin to wax 
so well acquainted with our soils that we may almost 
account of them as parcel of our own commodities. 
They have no less regard for medicinable herbs 
fetched out of other countries nearer hand : inso- 
much that I have seen in some one garden to the 
number of three or four hundred of them if not 
more, the half of whose names within forty years past 
we had no manner of knowledge." 

In conclusion he states with just pride, although 
with questionable authority, " I am persuaded that 
albeit the gardens of the Hesperides were so greatly 
accounted of because of their delicacy, yet if it were 



THE ELIZABETHAN FLOWER-GARDEN 135 

possible to have such an equal judge ... I doubt 
not he would give the prize unto the garden of our 
days." 

To appreciate the number of new plants introduced 
at this period, we have only to compare the Eliza- 
bethan herbals with those of earlier dates. Gerard's 
list of plants grown in his own garden, and his herbal 
imitated from the Dutch work of Dodoens, but con- 
taining much original material, are the most valuable 
sources of information. 

The reconstruction of Elizabethan gardens is com- Reconstmc- 

1 -1 -NT 1111 • • 11- *^°° °^ ^° 

paratively simple. JNot only herbals giving the lists Elizabethan 

garden. 

of plants they contained, treatises on horticulture 
advising how they should be cultivated, and books 
showing how they were to be planned and ornamented 
have been handed down to us, but many of the 
actual gardens remain with their architectural features 
unaltered, and only slightly injured by changes in the 
style of planting. The gardens described were often- 
est on a small scale, for, as Markham suggests, 
" Great cages make the bird never a whit the 
better." 

The house might be placed practically wherever the 
owner pleased. One writer advised that it should be 
located "on the edge of some great hill, upon some 
small hill, or the top of the hill if the country be 
tempestuous and full of mountains," while another 



Ai^ 



ENGLISH PLEASURE GARDENS 



considered the lowlands more desirable. Evidently 
it was a matter of taste, for actually there are Eliza- 
bethan gardens still to be seen in every variety of 
location, — on hillsides, as at St. Catherine's Court ; 
on hilltops, as at Hatfield ; and on level ground, as 
at Montacute. 

At the entrance to the house was often a forecourt. 
This was a rectangular enclosure surrounding a grass 
plot divided by a path leading to the house and 
sometimes containing fish-ponds and a dove-house. 
" Near unto the same you shall make your ground 

dove-house if the law will 
permit you such a one, in 
fashion like a lound turret 
in the midst of 3'our court." 
Many forecourts have been 
done away with, but there 
are, fortunately, a few re- 




maining. Of these, good 



examples are at Levens in 
Westmoreland, at Sandywell and King's Weston in 
Gloucestershire, at Mount Morris, and at Charleston 
manor-house. 

The number and character of the gardens depended 
of course on the taste and affluence of the owner. 
If he were poor, he might not be able to afford more 
than one enclosure, containing, like the early Tudor 



THE ELIZABETHAN FLOWER-GARDEN 137 

gardens, all sorts of plants. But if he were rich 
enough to follow the fashion, he would separate his 
plantations into three or four divisions, in each of 
which a certain kind of vegetation predominated. De 
Serres recommended four divisions, — the kitchen gar- 
den, the nosegay garden, the medicinal and the fruit 
garden. Markham was satisfied with two, — one for 
the "household garden," the other the "garden for 
flowers and sweet smells." But all were more or less 
intended for profit as well as pleasure. Ornamental 
features were then included, and are still often retained, 
in the English kitchen garden, herbary, and orchard ; 
while even such a princely pleasure garden as Bacon 
describes, contained certain homely herbs and vege- 
tables. In the " garden for flowers and sweet smells " 
Markham suggests that " about the hedge we shall 
set for to make pottage withal, pease, beans, citrons, 
cucumbers, and such like." 

Pleasure gardens were always connected as closely Pleasure 

gardens. 

as possible with the house, to form a prolongation of 
the living rooms. If practicable, the drawing-room 
opened into the parterre of flowers ; if not, a terrace 
formed the means of intercommunication. As Surilet 
says in his translation of a portion of the " Maison 
Rustique " : " It is a commendable and seemly thing to 
behold out at a window many acres of ground well 
tilled and husbanded, whether it be a meadow, a plot 



138 ENGLISH PLEASURE GARDENS 

for planting of willows, or arable ground as we have 
stood upon heretofore ; but yet it is much more to 
behold fair and comely proportions, handsome and 
pleasant arbours, and as it were closets, delightful 
borders of lavender, rosemary, box, and other such like, 
to hear the ravishing music of an infinite number of 
pretty small birds which continually, day and night, 
do chatter and chant their proper and natural branch- 
songs upon the hedges and trees of the garden ; and 
to smell so sweet a nosegay so near at hand, seeing 
that this so fragrant a smell cannot but refresh the 
Lord of the Farm exceedingly, when going out of his 
, bedchamber in the morning after the sun-rise and 
whiles as yet the clear and pearl-like dew doth 
perch unto the grass, he giveth himself to hear the 
melodious music of the bees, which busying them- 
selves in gathering of the same, do also fill the air 
with a most acceptable sweet and pleasant harmony ; 
besides the borders and continued rows of soveraigne, 
thyme, balm, rosemary, marjoram, cypers, sothern- 
wood, and other fragrant herbs, the sight and view 
whereof cannot but give great contentment unto the 
beholder." 

The ground The Outline of the garden was carefully designed 
to suit its particular location, and to be on the right 
scale. " You are very much to consider the form and 
proportions of the same," writes Markham, " wherein, 



plan. 




u 



THE ELIZABETHAN FLOWER-GARDEN 139 

according to the opinion of Serres and Vinet, you must 
be much ruled by the nature of the soil." 

Each portion of the garden was made almost perfectly 
level, though parts of it might be raised above the re- 
mainder. Raised walks, as at Brickwall and Longleat, 
often ran around the outer edge above the parterre. 

On a hillside a garden was frequently laid out in a Differences 

of level. 

series of terraces. " You may also, if your ground be 
naturally so seated, or if your industry please so to bring 
it to pass, make your garden rise and mount by several 
degrees, one level ascending above another, which is 
exceeding beautiful to the eye and very beneficial to 
your flowers and fruit trees, especially if such ascents 
have the benefit of the sun rising upon them." 

At St. Catherine's Court is one of the most interest- 
ing series of terraced gardens in England, Instead of 
descending, the terraces ascend above the house. It is 
unfortunate that the clipped trees at the entrance to the 
gardens have grown entirely out of scale ; otherwise 
from the house, as the illustration shows, the effect pro- 
duced would be altogether charming. 

The form of the outer enclosure, as in the Middle 
Ages, usually remained rectangular. Round, oval, and 
diamond shapes are also mentioned as correct for the 
" Verge and Girdle of your Garden," but square or 
oblong was evidently customary. 

The most characteristic boundary of an Elizabethan 



140 



ENGLISH PLEASURE GARDENS 



Balustrad- 
ing. 



Material 
of the 
enclosure. 



Entraaces. 






mi <^ « 



STERKACE 5TEP6 5HRUBLANJDS 



garden was a sort of openwork stone balustrading, 

either placed directly on the 
ground or surmounting a wall 
of stone or brick. Such balus- 
trading is to be seen at Mon- 
tacute, Bramshill, Claverton 
Manor, and many other houses. 
Several good examples are shown in the illustrations. 

" An earthen wall, if coped with glue and mortar and 
planted with wall flowers," was recommended by Mark- 
ham where neither stone nor wood was to be had, and 
was a favourite resort of bees. Hedges, elaborately 
planted with a variety of trees and shrubs, wooden pal- 
ings, differing but little from those described in the 
last chapter, and brick walls, brought to a greater perfec- 
tion in the Stuart period, sometimes formed the outer 
boundary line. Moats are mentioned by Markham, but 
they had become almost 
obsolete except as orna- 
ments or preserves for fish. 
The entrance was an im- 
portant and salient feature. 
The most elaborate was 
guarded on each side by a 
gatehouse. Ordinary gate- 
ways were either flanked by stone piers or arched over 
with stonework. Ornaments, such as balls, obelisks, 




GARDEN GATEWAY BRA/nbHILLo 



THE ELIZABETHAN FLOWER-GARDEN 141 




or heraldic beasts, were placed on top of the piers, as 
shown in the accompanying illustrations. Covered 
gateways were also surmounted 
with ornaments. Interesting exam- 
ples are to be seen in many places. 
A terrace was usually intimately 
connected with the house, on a 
vantage ground at least three feet 
above the level of the garden. Its 
extent varied according to the 
size of the neighbouring buildings and the exigencies 
of the location, and the width depended upon the 
length. The edge was protected by a parapet orna- 
mented by stone balustrades or openwork. The sur- 
face of the ground might 
be covered either with grass 
or gravel, and was some- 
times bordered with flowers. 
Such a terrace added much 
to the dignity of a mansion, 
and often furnished a most 
attractive view of the garden 
and the surrounding country. At Haddon Hall is a 
very beautiful and familiar terrace shaded by some fine 
old trees. Another well-known example is at the Hall, 
Bradford-on-Avon. At Bramshill the terrace serves as 
a bowling-green, and is furnished with seats in niches 



riMl 






c^mPHSIivi 



TERRAOtk BOWLING GREEM ". BKAMSHIU. 



Terraces. 



J\^2 



ENGLISH PLEASURE GARDENS 



The view 
from the 
terrace. 



Walks. 



at each end. In connection with every Elizabethan 
house a terrace was the rule rather than the exception. 
Its advantages are charmingly described in the account 
of Queen Elizabeth's visit to Kenilworth. 

The relation between the garden and the terrace is 
also well pointed out by Sir Henry Wotton. " First, I 
must note a certain contrariety between building and 
gardening; for as Fabricks should be regular so Gar- 
dens should be irregular, or at least cast into a very wild 
Regularity. To exemplifie my conceit, I have seen a 
Garden, for the manner perchance incomparable, into 
which the first Access was a high Walk like a Tarrace, 
from whence might be taken a general view of the 
whole Plot below, but rather in a delightful confusion, 
than with any plain distinction of the pieces. From this 
the Beholder, descending many steps, was afterwards con- 
veyed again by several mountings and valings to various 
entertainments and of his scent and sight, which I shall 
not need to describe, for that were poetical, let me only 
note this, that every one of these diversities was as if he 
had been magically transported into a new Garden." 

As an opportunity for taking exercise was one of the 
objects in having a garden, the enclosure was intersected 
by numerous foot-paths. At Hampton Court Queen 
Elizabeth used " to catche her heat in the colde morn- 
ings with a brisk walk," though, at times when conscious 
of observation, " she was the very image of majesty and 



THE ELIZABETHAN FLOWER-GARDEN 143 



magnificence, went slowly and marched with leisure and 
with a certain grandity rather than gravity." Hentzner 
mentions that at Oxford, " As soon as Grace was said 
after every meal every one is at liberty either to retire 
to his own chambers, or to walk in the College garden, 
there being none that has not a delightful one." 

No rules about the proportions of paths were given, xhefoma- 
but as a general thing they were rather narrower than paths, 
at present. Markham considers six feet sufficient for 
wide walks. Ordinarily, they were strewn with fine 
sand, or paved with tiles or with squares of stone like 
the flagging in front of St. Catherine's Court. Fine 
yellow gravel mixed with pebbles and coal dust was 
recommended as de- r— — 



structive to weeds, 
but otherwise con- 
sidered undesirable. 
Grass walks seem 
to have been less 
common than in 
the next century. 

Alleys, as the 
broader paths were 
called, were often 
shaded by trees, 
their branches 
pleached in an arch. 




'TlililPilFI?'^ 

\\ vmii.y'^ ~~X I 



-:1; 



COVE.RED WALK 5HRUBLANDS 



144 



ENGLISH PLEASURE GARDENS 



Wooden 
galleries. 



Hornbeam, witch-elm, and yew were used for this pur- 
pose. Such pleached alleys often surrounded the gar- 
den, and exist to-day at Hatfield, Shrublands and many 
other places. 

Wooden galleries, answering the same purpose as 
covered alleys of pleached trees, were usually con- 




structed in all the larger gardens. The roof was almost 
invariably arched and covered with vines. On the side 
toward the garden were apertures for viewing its 
arrangement. Turrets of latticework accented the 
corners and sometimes the middle of the gallery. A 
great variety of different forms are shown in Vredeman's 
" Hortorum Viridariorumque," published at Antwerp in 



THE ELIZABETHAN FLOWER-GARDEN 145 



1583, in the engravings by Crispin de Passe illustrating 
the " Hortus Floridus," and in many contemporaneous 
pictures. Such galleries corresponded to the classic 
portico and the monastic cloisters, and were a survival 
from the mediaeval pleasaunce. The construction of the 
simpler forms was minutely described in the " Jardinier 
Hollandais," by J. van der Groen, in the middle of the 
seventeenth century. 

There were also arbours, garden-houses, and banquet- Arbours, 
ing houses in similar styles and of more or less elaborate 
forms. Green arbours, Markham says, were covered 
with the wild vine, hops, jasmine, Mary's seal, musk- 
roses, woodbine, gourds, cucumber, and sweetbrier, and 
might shade a wooden bench or a bank of camomile. 
Often they were built in the shape of a round turret. 
Clipped cypress, bay, cedar, and box trees, planted in 
the ground, in flower-pots 
or in wooden cases, were 
used to mark the entrance 
to the arbour. 

Garden-houses were 
placed in all the more 
ambitious gardens. The 
plan was usually either 
square or octagonal. The 

building was composed of one or two stories, and 
seldom contained more than one room on a floor. 




146 



ENGLISH PLEASURE GARDENS 



Mounts. 




Sometimes the side toward the garden was left open, 
as in the little wooden pavilion in the old gardens at 
Whitehall. Others were substan- 
tially built of stone, like the well- 
known gazebos at Montacute. 
Usually they were located in the 
corners of the garden or in the 
centre of the wall, at the end of 
the main path. Two views of one at Packwood are 
shown in the illustrations. An elaborate and fanciful 
garden-house is at Chipping Camden, Gloucester- 
shire, while the triangular lodge at Rushton is even 
more quaintly designed. 

Mounts continued to be raised in the centres or the 
corners of gardens. Mandelso mentions one at Theo- 
balds, called the 
Mount of Venus, 
"which is placed in 
the midst of a laby- 
rinth, and is, upon 
the whole, one of 
the most beautiful 
spots in the world. ' 
In the crarden at 












Whitehall stood a 

" Parnassus Mount, on top of which was the Pegasus, 

a golden horse with wings, and divers statues, one 



y 



THE ELIZABETHAN FLOWER-GARDEN 147 

of black marble representing the river Thames, beneath 

which is this Latin distich in letters of gold : — 

" * Me pones imperium, emporium sunt classis et artes, 
Et schola bene floxens, florida prata rigo.' 

It far surpasses the Parnassus Mount in the Pratolino 
near Florence." Less pretentious mounts were capped 
with arbours or summer-houses. 

Lawson favoured a mount built of stone or wood 
"curiously wrought within and without," or of earth 
covered with fruit trees. On such a mount, he says, 
" you might sit and angle a peckled trout, or a sleighte 
Eele, or some other fish " in the old moat outside the 
wall, or in a stream meandering close by. Or if the 
mount overlooked the park, there was " nothing to pre- 
vent your taking an occasional shot at a buck." 

For the inner enclosure or "inward proportions," as The inner 

. enclosure. 

they were called, " You may draw your garden mto 
what form soever you please, not respecting that shape 
soever the outer verge carrieth : for you may make the 
garden which is square without to be round within, and 
that which is round without, either square or oval ; that 
which is oval either of the former, and that which is 
diamond any shape at all, and yet all exceedingly 
comely." This enclosure might be formed by a railed 
fence or by a low hedge of cypress, box, or juniper. 

The intersection of the paths and counterpaths The 
usually divided the garden into four quarters. " These 



148 ENGLISH PLEASURE GARDENS 

inward quarters wherein you place the knots or other 
devices may be bound as well with fine envious hedges 
made battlementwise in sundry forms, according to in- 
vention, or carrying the proportions of pilasters, flowers, 
shapes of beasts, birds, creeping things, ships, trees, 
and suchlike." These hedges were considered advan- 
tageous, because they did not take up much room and 
could be set with a variety of different shrubs. The 
frame of the design was constructed either of wood or 
wire. 

In " Floraes Paradise," Sir Hugh Piatt says, " Instead 
of privie hedges about a quarter I commend a fence 
made of lath or sticks thinly placed and after graced 
with dwarf apple and plomme trees, spread abroad upon 
the stick." This is one of the earliest mentions of trees 
grown to form an espalier. As the gardens were infested 
with rabbits, it was evidently necessary to have some 
form of protection for the beds. 
Knots. The beds were raised from one to two feet above 

the level of the paths and laid out in the beautiful 
designs called knots. Markham says that the pattern 
of the design could not be decided by rule, but de- 
pended upon the gardener and the pleasure of his 
master, " The one whereof is led by the hops and 
skips, turning and windings of his brain ; the other by 
the pleasing of his eye according to his best fantasie." 
In looking at the patterns of the knots it must be 



THE ELIZABETHAN FLOWER-GARDEN 149 



The Country Houfe^ifes Garden. 



remembered that they were intended to be laid out on 

a large scale, each knot occu- 
n,Fm. pying a piece of ground frorn 
twenty-five to one hundred feet 
square. The knot was outlined 
in box, lavender, or sometimes 
with an edging of pinks and 
daisies. 

The flowers commonly planted Flowers, 
in the pleasure garden were 
those considered as most appro- 
priate for nosegays and garlands. 
In the " Country Farm," among 
those mentioned to be cultivated 
" March 




Lo;cng«f, 



Flower 



for this purpose are 
violets, Provence Gillo-flowers, 
and Indian Gillo-flowers, small 
Paunces, Daisies, yellow and 
white Gillo-flowers, Marigolds, 
Lilly-convally, Daffodils, Can- 
terburie-bells. Purple velvet 
flowre. Anemones, Corn-flag, J^i^'^ 
Mugwort, Lillies, and other 
such like." Besides are men- 
tioned " All sorts of strange 
flowers as is the Crown Im- 
periall, the Dulippos of sundrie 



The Country Houfevifet Garden. 




mWm 



I50 ENGLISH PLEASURE GARDENS 

kinds, Narcissus, Hyacinthus, Emeryes Hellitropiano, 
and a world of others of like nature, whose colours 
being glorious and different make such a brave 
checkered mixture that it is both wondrous pleasant 
and delectable to behold." Lawson was especially fond 
of the gillyflower, which he considered " the king of 
the flowers except the rose " ; and he dwells upon its 
fragrance and its beauty. Double marigolds as big 
as roses were among the showiest ornaments. 

Bacon held that " in the royal Ordering of Gardens 

there ought to be Gardens for all the Moniks in the 

Year; in which, severally, Things of Beauty may be 

then in Season. For December and January, and the 

Bacon's sug- Latter Part of November, you must take such Things 

gestions for 

a succession as are Grccn all Wmter; Holly, Ivy, Bays, Juniper, 
Cypress Trees, Yew, Pine-apple Trees,' Fir Trees, 
Rosemary, Lavender; Periwinkle, the white, the pur- 
ple, and the blue; Germander, Flags, Orange Trees, 
Lemon Trees, and Myrtles, if they be stoved ; and 
Sweet Marjoram warm set. There followeth, for the 
latter part of January, and Febriiary, the Mezereon 
Tree, which then blossoms ; Crocus vernus, both the 
yellow, and the gray ; Primroses, Anemonies, the early 
Tulipa, Hyacinthus Orientalis, Chamairis, Fritellaria. 
For March there come Violets, specially the single 
blue, which are the earliest ; the Yellow Daffodil, the 

1 I.e. the Pine, of which several sorts were then cultivated. 



THE ELIZABETHAN FLOWER-GARDEN 151 

Daisy, the Almond Tree in blossom, the Peach Tree 
in blossom, the Cornelian Tree in blossom. Sweet 
Briar. In April follow the double white Violet, the 
Wall-flower, the Stock Gilliflower, the Cowslip, Flower 
de Luces, and Lilies of all natures, Rosemary Flowers, 
the Tulipa, the Double Peony, the pale Daffodil, the 
French Honeysuckle, the Cherry Tree in blossom, 
the Damascene and Plum Trees in blossom, the 
Whitehorn in leaf, the Lilac Tree. In May, and June 
come Pinks of all sorts, specially the Blush Pink ; 
Roses of all kinds, except the Musk, which comes 
later; Honeysuckles, Strawberries, Bugloss, Colum- 
bine, the French Marygold, Flos Africanus, Cherry 
Tree in Fruit, Ribes, Figs in Fruit, Rasps, Vine 
Flowers, Lavender in Flowers, the Sweet Satyrian, 
with the White Flower; Herba Muscaria, Lilium 
Convallium, the Apple Tree in blossom. In Jtily 
come Gilliflowers of all varieties, Musk Roses, the 
Lime Tree in blossom, early Pears, and Plums in 
Fruit, Gennitings,^ Quodlins. In August, come Plums 
of all sorts in fruit, Pears, Apricoks, Barberries, Fil- 
berds, Musk-Melons, Monks Hoods of all colours. 
In September come Grapes, Apples, Poppies of all 
colours, Peaches, Melo-Cotones, Nectarines, Cornelians,^ 

^ Gennitings, an early apple, its true name June eating. Quodlins, i.e. 
Codlins, a boiling apple. 

^ Melo-cotone, a kind of quince. Cornelians, the Cornel or Cornelian 
cherry tree. Wardens, a keeping pear, by the French called Poire de garde. 



152 ENGLISH PLEASURE GARDENS 

Wardens, Quinces. In October and the beginning 
of November come Services, Medlars, Bullaces, Roses 
cut or removed to come late, Hollyoaks, and such 
like. These particulars are for the climate of Lon- 
don : but my meaning is perceived that you may 
have Ver perpetuum, as the place affords.^ 

" And because the Breath of Flowers is far sweeter 
in the Air (where it comes and goes, like the Warb- 
ling of Musick) than in the Hand, therefore nothing 
is more fit for that delight than to know what be the 
Flowers and Plants that do best perfume the Air. 
Roses, Damask and Red, are fast Flowers of their 
Smells^; so that you may walk by a whole row of 
them, and find nothing of their Sweetness; yea 
though it be in a Morning's Dew. Bays, likewise, 
yield no Smell as they grow ; Rosemary little, nor 
Sweet Marjoram : that which, above all others, yields 
the Sweetest Smell in the Air, is the Violet, specially 
the White double Violet, which comes twice a year, 
about the middle of April, and about Bartholomew- 
tide. Next to that is the Musk Rose ; then the 
Strawberry- Leaves dying, with a most excellent Cordial 

^ In Mr. Montague's edition this passage has been, I know not on what 
authority, altered in the following manner : " Thus if you will, you may have 
the Golden Age again, and a Spring all the year long." The allusion is prob- 
ably to Virg. Geor. 11, 149. 

2 " Fast flowers of their smells," i.e. do not give them out at any distance. 
Comp. " The History of Life and Death," 1638, 12 mo., pp. 294-295. 



THE ELIZABETHAN FLOWER-GARDEN 153 



Smell ; then the Flower of the Vines ; ' it is a 
little dust, like the dust of a Bent, which grows upon 
the Cluster in the first coming forth ; then Sweet 
Briar; then Wallflowers which are very delightful 
to set under a Parlour or lower Chamber Window; 
then Pinks, specially the Matted Pink, and Clove 
Gilliflower ; then the Flowers of the Lime-Tree ; then 
the Honeysuckles, so they be somewhat afar off. Of 
Bean Flowers I speak not, because they are Field 
Flowers. But those which Perfume the Air most 
delightfully, not passed by as the rest, but being Ti^od- 
deii Upon and Crushed, are three ; that is Burnet, 
Wild Thyme, and Water-Mints. Therefore, you are 
to set whole Alleys of them, to have the Pleasure, 
when you walk or tread." 

Topiary work added much to the variety of the Topiary 
parterre. The firm foliage of the dark evergreens, ^^^ ' 
clipped sometimes into a sim- 
ple straight hedge, sometimes 
into the most fantastic shapes, 
formed a background in charm- 
ing contrast to the waving 
masses of brilliantly coloured 

flowers. In the old gardens at Levens are many 
delightfully quaint figures, among them Queen Eliza- 
beth and her maids of honour represented as wearing 
the fullest of hoop-skirts. At Packwood is simulated 




154 



ENGLISH PLEASURE GARDENS 



mi^ 



the Sermon on the Mount, while at Cleeve Prior 
Manor the twelve apostles hand in hand stand six 
on one side and six on the other along the pathway 
from the road to the house. There are fine collec- 
tions of topiary work at Elvaston and at Ascott. 
"Your Gardiner," writes Lawson, in 1618, "can frame 
your lesser wood to the shape of men armed in the 

field, ready to give 



battell : or swift run- 
ning Grey Hounds 
to chase the Deere, 
or hunt the Hare. 
This kind of hunt- 
ing shall not waste 
your corne nor much 
your coyne." Bacon 
despised images cut out in juniper or other gar- 
den stuff as only fit to amuse children, but when 
in suitable surroundings, they certainly have a dis- 
tinct charm. For, above all, a garden should furnish 
food for the imagination, and these fantastic forms 
are indeed made of such stuff as dreams. In the 
sunshine their shapes are vaguely outlined behind 
the gayly hued flowers ; but as the light grows dim, 
shadows lengthen, and colour becomes indistinguish- 
able, the quaint images of men and beasts, moving 
darkly forward from the background, have a mysterious 




/,, . iii/( '^U 



A BUTTRESS OF CUPPED YEW :ARLEY 




w 



/ 



THE ELIZABETHAN FLOWER-GARDEN 155 

fascination and transform the garden into a new and 
strange wonderland. 

In the water-works were given frequent opportu- water- 

works 

nities for fanciful devices. Every garden seems to 
have had a fountain, usually a 
round basin with a statue in 
the centre, combined with a jet 
of water. At Nonesuch, Hentz- 
ner describes " two fountains that 
spout water, one round, the other 
like a pyramid, upon which are 
perched small birds that stream 
water out of their bills. In the 
grove of Diana is a very agree- 
able fountain, with Actaeon turned 
into a stag as he was sprinkled by the goddess and 
her nymphs." 

Cunning schemes were also contrived to surprise surprises 
the visitors to the garden with a sudden shower bath. 
Hentzner mentions having seen at Nonesuch " a pyra- 
mid of marble full of concealed pipes which spurt 
upon all those who come within their reach." At 
Whitehall, he says that " in a garden joining to this 
palace, there is a jet d'eau, with a sun-dial, which, 
while strangers are looking at it, a quantity of water 
forced by a wheel which the gardener turns at a dis- 
tance through a number of little pipes, plentifully 




■Bmiimmm^'m^''^ 



TOUNTAIN TRINITY COLLEGE 



156 ENGLISH PLEASURE GARDENS 

sprinkles those that are standing round," The Duke 
of Wirtemburg remarked upon one of Queen Elizabeth's 
few erections at Hampton Court, "a splendid high 
and massy fountain, with a water-work by which you 
can, if you like, make the water play upon the ladies 
and others who are standing by, and give them a 
thorough wetting." It was evidently considered highly 
amusing to victimize unfortunates with such practical 
jokes. Our sense of humour has apparently changed 
far more than our sense of beauty since the days of 
the virgin queen. 

Bathing Bathing pools are mentioned by Bacon in his essay 

" On Gardens." He describes a '' faire Receipt of 
Water of some Thirty or Forty Foot Square, but with- 
out Fish or Slime or Mud," with sides and bottom 
paved with stone, and water flowing in and out per- 
petually. It was to be encompassed with "fine Railes 
of low Statuas," and embellished with coloured glass. 
A square pool at Penshurst may have been intended 
for bathing. It is placed at a secluded end of the 
gardens, and surrounded by a hedge. The illustration 
shows a corner with steps conveniently placed for a 
bather leading into the water. 

Fish-ponds. Many gardens contained fish-ponds, usually built of 
brick or stone, and of square or oblong shape. In 
Sir Philip Sidney's "Arcadia" is described a "fair 
Pond whose shaking Crystal was a perfect Mirror to 



THE ELIZABETHAN FLOWER-GARDEN 157 







5UN-D1A1.-. SHKUBLANDb 



all the other Beauties." Ducks and swans as well as 
fish were often admitted to the water. In a plan 
showing the lay-out of the ground surrounding Hol- 
denby House in Northamptonshire, 
as it existed in 1587, there are seven 
ponds varying in size, but all oblong. 
Quaint conceits were devised for 
ornaments. Sir Hugh Piatt sug- 
gests procuring flower-pots twice the 
usual size, perforated with holes an 
inch apart and an inch in circum- 
ference. A lily or a carnation was 
planted in the middle of the pot, 
and in the holes thyme or hyssop kept evenly clipped. 
" Set these pots upon faire pillars in your garden 
to make a beautiful shew." The design of flower- 
pots was often elaborate. Pyramids, 
lozenges, circles, pentagons, or any form 
of beast or fowl, in wood, stone, or 
burnt clay, with similar holes planted 
with rosemary or another herb, formed 
an attractive feature. Other ornaments 
were gilded wooden images and round balls of coloured 
glass to catch the sunlight, and sun-dials. Statuary 
was considered by Bacon an innovation adding to 
the state and magnificence, but nothing to the true 
pleasure of a garden. 




Ornaments. 



158 



ENGLISH PLEASURE GARDENS 



Tennis- 
courts. 



Other play- 
grounds. 



Thi Com'ry Houfuffifis Gdrdcn. 



Tennis was still a favourite amusement, and the 
tennis-court an adjunct to the garden. It was when 
Queen Elizabeth was seated in the gallery of a tennis- 
court watching a game between the Duke of Norfolk 
and the Earl of Leicester that " my Lord Robert being 
verie hotte and swettinge, took the Queens napken oute 
of her hande, and wyped his face, which the Duke 
seeinge, saide that he was too sawsie, and swore that 
he wolde laye his racket upon his face. Hereupon 
rose a great troble, and the Queen offended sore with 
the Duke." It will be remembered that Sir Philip 
Sidney's famous quarrel with the Earl of Oxford also 

took place in a tennis-court. 
' Greens for archery and bowling 
continued to be laid out in con- 
nection with the garden. Mazes 
afforded a form of amusement 
not too childish for grown people, 
who retained a fondness for all 

c. 

such quips and cranks. 

In contrast to the prim regu- 
larity of the parterre a few gardens 
contained a " wilderness," which 
was a more ordinary feature at a 
later period. Bacon's account of 
the wilderness in his essay on gardens shows that 
it was then a piece of enclosed ground, comprising 




THE ELIZABETHAN FLOWER-GARDEN 159 



y 






^^a^ 



^^^ 



BOWLINC ALLEY BROCKEMHUUST 



thickets of sweetbrier, honeysuckle, and grape-vines, 
and mounds of earth, covered with various cul- 
tivated flowers. It was a tangle 
not planted in any order, and not 
containing trees like the later 
wildernesses, which were devel- 
oped by Le Notre into the famous 
bosquets at Versailles. 

The kitchen garden in its 
way was also made beautiful. 
" Though your garden for fiowers 
doth in a sort peculiarly challenge itself, a profit and xhekitche* 

gaurden. 

exquisite form to the eyes, yet you may not altogether 
neglect this where your herbs for the pot do grow. 
And, therefore, some here make comely borders with 
the herbs aforesaid. The rather, because roses and 
lavender yield much profit. The beds need not here 
be raised. You place your herbs of biggest growth 
by walls, or in borders, and the lowest in the midst." 

As yet the distinction between an orchard and a The orchard, 
garden was not very marked. Lawson describes them 
collectively in his " Orchard and Garden," which was 
written in the Elizabethan spirit although it did not 
appear until 16 18. It is full of practical directions as 
well as charming sentiments. 

" The very works of and in an Orchard and Garden 
are better than the ease and rest of and from other 



i6o ENGLISH PLEASURE GARDENS 

labours. When God had made man after his own 
Image in a perfect state, and would have him represent 
himself in authority, tranquility and pleasure upon the 
Earth, He placed him in Paradise. What was Paradise .f* 
But a Garden and Orchard of trees and herbs, full of all 
pleasure, and nothing there but delights. The gods of 
the Earth resembling the great God of heaven in author- 
ity, Majesty and abundance of all things, wherein is 
their most delight.'* And whither do they withdraw 
themselves from the troublesome affairs of their estate, 
being tired with the hearings and judgings of litigious 
Controversies.'* choked (as it were) with the close aire 
of their sumptuous buildings, their stomachs cloyed with 
variety of banquets, their ears filled and over-burthened 
with tedious discoursings. Whither ? but into their 
Orchards made and prepared dressed and destinated for 
that purpose to renew and refresh their senses, and to 
call home their over-wearied spirits. Nay, it is (no doubt) 
a comfort to them, to set open their casements into a 
most delicate Garden and Orchard, whereby they may 
not only see that, wherein they are so much delighted, 
but also to give fresh, sweet and pleasant air to their 
Galleries and Chambers. 

" What can your eye desire to see, your ears to 
hear, your mouth to taste, or your nose to smell, that 
is not to be had in an Orchard ? with abundance and 
variety.'' What more delightsome than an infinite 



THE ELIZABETHAN FLOWER-GARDEN i6i 

variety of sweet smelling flowers? decking with sun- 
dry colours the green mantle of the Earth, the uni- 
versal Mother of us all, so by them bespotted, so 
dyed, that all the world cannot sample them, and 
wherein it is more fit to admire the Dyer than imitate 
his workmanship. Colouring not only the earth, but 
decking the air, and sweetening every breath and spirit." 

In concluding his description Lawson says : " One 
chief grace that adorns an Orchard I cannot let slip. 
A brood of Nightingales, who with their several notes 
and tunes, with a strong delightsome voice out of a 
weak body will bear you company night and day;" 
and he goes on to name some of the other birds 
whose presence might be desired. Then he adds : 
"What shall I say.? looo of delights are in an Orchard 
and sooner shall I be weary, than I can reckon the least 
part of that pleasure, which one, that hath and loves 
an Orchard may find therein. What is there, of all 
these few that I have reckoned, which doth not please 
the eye, the ear, the smell and taste? and by these 
senses, as Organs, Pipes and Windows, these delights 
are carried to refresh the gentle, generous and noble 
mind." 

The ancient custom of receiving important visitors 
in the garden was followed by Queen Elizabeth. At 
Hampton Court she afforded in her private garden a 
clandestine interview to one of the first suitors for 



Nonesuch. 



i/162 



ENGLISH PLEASURE GARDENS 



Elizabeth's 
influence. 



her hand, the Earl of Arran. Here, too, occurred 
some of her amusing meetings with the Queen of 
Scots' agent. Lord Melville. 

The royal gardens at Whitehall, Windsor, None- 
such, and Hampton Court, according to the account 
of foreign visitors, were well kept up at the close of 
the century, but we do not hear that the queen 
added much to them, except the terrace at Windsor 
Castle. Of Nonesuch Hentzner has left us a descrip- 
tion ; in part he says : — 

" The palace itself is so encompassed with parks 
full of deer, delicious gardens, groves ornamented with 
trelliswork, cabinets of verdure, and walks so em- 
bowered by trees, that it seems to be a place pitched 
upon by Pleasure herself to dwell in along with 
Health," The Duke of Wirtembero-, who travelled 
through England in 1592, speaks of Hampton Court 
as comprising many beautiful gardens both for pleas- 
ure and ornament; some planted with nothing but 
rosemary, others laid out with various other plants, 
which are " trained, intertwined, and trimmed in so 
wonderful a manner and in such extraordinary shapes 
that the like could not easily be found." 

Directly, Queen Elizabeth did veiy little for the 
gardens of her day, but indirectly they owed much to 
her influence. She encouraged her nobles to live on 
their country estates and to build fine houses and 



THE ELIZABETHAN FLOWER-GARDEN 163 

gardens where they might have the honour of receiv- 
ing her as a guest. Their efforts were stimulated by 
her progresses, which included visits to almost every 
part of her kingdom. Among the gardens where Eliza- 
beth stopped were those at Helmingham, Kenilworth. 
and Wilton, where there was a celebrated grotto. 
Lord Burleigh entertained her magnificently at Theo- 
balds in 1 591. Here a masque written for the occa- 
sion by George Peele was recited, describing the 
difficulties of constructing the garden and comparing 
its beauties to the queen's virtues. It began with a 
speech by a mole-catcher, who said, " I cannot dis- 
course of knots and mazes ; sure I am that the ground 
was so knotty that the gardener was amazed at it, 
and as easy had it been to make a shaft of a cammock 
as a garden of that craft." 

Theobalds was one of the finest gardens seen by Theobalds, 
the German traveller Hentzner. He describes it as it 
existed at the close of the sixteenth century. " The 
first was Theobalds, belonging to Lord Burleigh, the 
treasurer: in the gallery was painted the genealogy 
of the Kings of England ; from this place one goes 
into the garden, encompassed with a ditch full of 
water, large enough for one to have the pleasure of 
going in a boat, and rowing between the shrubs; 
here are great variety of trees and plants ; labyrinths 
made with a great deal of labour, a jet d'eau, with 



i64 ENGLISH PLEASURE GARDENS 

its bason of white marble ; and columns and pyra- 
mids of wood and other material up and down the 
garden. After seeing these, we were led by the 
gardiner into the summer-house, in the lower part 
of which, built semi-circularly, are the twelve Roman 
emperors in white marble, and a table of touchstone: 
the upper part of it is set around with cisterns of lead 
into which the water is conveyed through pipes, so 
that fish may be kept there, and in summer-time they 
are very convenient for bathing: in another room 
for entertainment very near this and joined to it by a 
little bridge, was an oval table of red marble." 

A small garden, but one of the most delightful, 
must have been that laid out by Leicester at Kenil- 
worth. His secretary's description of its charms 
is too vivid not to be given at length, and will serve 
as a last word as to the appearance of an actual 
Elizabethan garden. 
Keniiworth. " Uuto this, his Honor's exquisite appointment 
of a beautiful garden, an acre or more in quantity, 
that lieth on the north there; Whereon hard all along 
by the Castle wall is reared a pleasant terrace ten 
feet high, and twelve feet broad, even under foot and 
fresh of fine grass, as is also the side thereof: In 
which, by sundry equal distances, with obelisks and 
spheres, and white bears, all of stone upon their 
curious bases, by goodly shew were set ; To these, two 



y 







THE ELIZABETHAN FLOWER-GARDEN 165 

fine arbours redolent by sweet trees and flowers, at 
each end one, the garden plot under that, with fair 
alleys green by grass, even voided from the borders 
on both sides, and some (for change) with sand, not 
light, or too soft, or soily by dust, but smooth and 
firm, pleasant to walk on, as a sea-shore when the 
water is availed. Then, much gracified by due 
proportion of four even quarters ; in the midst of each, 
upon a base of two feet square and high, seemly 
bordered of itself, a square pilaster rising pyramidi- 
cally fifteen feet high. Symmetrically pierced through 
from a foot beneath to two feet of the top : where- 
upon, for a Capitol, an orb of ten inches thick; 
everyone of these with its base, from the ground to the 
top, of one whole piece ; hewn out of hard porphyry, 
and with great art and heed (think me) thither 
conveyed and there erected. Where, further also, by 
great cast and cost, the sweetness and savour on all 
sides, made so respirant from the redolent plants, and 
fragrant herbs and flowers, in form, colour and 
quantity so deliciously variant ; and fruit trees bedecked 
with apples, pears, and ripe cherries. . . . 

" A garden then so appointed, as wherein aloft upon 
sweet shadowed walk of terrace, in heat of summer 
to feel the pleasant frisking wind above, or delectable 
coolness of the fountain-spring beneath ; to taste of 
delicious strawberries, cherries, and other fruits, even 



i66 ENGLISH PLEASURE GARDENS 

from their stalks ; to smell such f ragrancy of sweet 
odours, breathing from the plants, herbs, and flowers ; 
to hear such natural melodious music and tunes of 
birds ; to have in eye for mirth sometime these 
underspringing streams ; then, the woods, the waters, 
(for both pool and chase were hard at hand in sight) 
the deer, the people (that out of the East arbour in 
the base Court, also at hand in view), the fruit trees, the 

r 

plants, the herbs, the flowers, the change in colours, 
the birds flittering, the fountain streaming, the fish 
swimming, all in such delectable variety, order, and 
dignity ; whereby at one moment, in one place, at 
hand, without travel, to have so full fruition of so 
many God's blessings, by entire delight unto all 
senses (if all can take) at once ; for etymon of 
the word worthy to be called Paradise : and though 
not so goodly as Paradise, for want of the fair rivers, 
yet better a great deal by the lack of so unhappy a 
tree. Argument most certain of a right noble mind, 
that in this sort could have thus all contrived." 

The gardens at Levens give perhaps the best idea 
of Elizabethan planting, while at Bramshill and Monta- 
cute are good examples of the architectural features of 
this period. There are many similar places in all 
parts of England and Scotland. 




THE OLD ORAMGEITIY : KEW GARDE N5 



CHAPTER VI 




GARDENS OF THE STUARTS 

N the days of the Stuarts the EHza- seventeenth 

century de- 

bethan gardens underwent certain modi- veiopments. 

fications according to the predominance 

of French, ItaUan, or Dutch fashions. 

In architecture classic traditions pre- 
vailed, but in garden design suggestions were less 
welcomed from the ancient Greeks and Romans than 
from contemporary horticulturists. Evelyn, a great 
authority on gardens at the height of this period, con- 
sidered the writings of Tusser, Markham, Hartlib, and 
Walter Blith, with the " Philosophical Transactions," 
" The Maison Rustique," and other books of a similar 
description, as filled with much more valuable informa- 
tion than could be found in Cato, Varro, Columella, 
Palladio, or the Greek Geoponics. He also thought 
that in floriculture, the gardeners of his day were far 
ahead of the ancients, and that the number of plants 
then known was infinitely greater than ever in the past. 

167 



1 68 



ENGLISH PLEASURE GARDENS 



Innovations. 



Botanical 
collectors. 



Changes at this period were introduced gradually. 
Garden architecture altered, like the rest of domestic 
architecture, from the Elizabethan to the later styles 
without any abrupt transition. The tendency was to 
give additional breadth to the gravel walks and minor 
importance to the flower-beds, producing a feeling of 
space which may be attributed to French influence. 
Beautiful wrought-iron gates and palisades were an 
importation from France or Holland. Leaden statues 

and vases, first designed in 
France, were often executed 
by Dutch workmen in Eng- 
land. Dwarf fruit trees were 
probably a Dutch fashion 
adapted to the miniature gar- 
dens in Holland, but seem 
to have become an important feature in every English 
garden toward the close of the seventeenth century. 
These innovations may be traced as far back as the 
reign of James I, they continued rather in abeyance 
through the troubled times of Charles I, and flourished 
most extensively after the Restoration. During the 
reigns of Charles H and of William and Mary, the 
seventeenth-century garden was at its prime. 

In the reign of James I the most striking novelty 
was the cultivation of numerous collections of exotics. 
Various private botanical gardens were founded, and the 




GARDENS OF THE STUARTS 



169 







nSHlNG 1 ODC^ BE.CKETT BE?>K5Q| 



study of botany, with a fondness for the classification 
of new specimens, became common. Herbals and 
horticultural trea- 
tises were examined 
eagerly and herbal- 
ists attained great 
fame. Parkinson, 

an apothecary to 
the king, wrote the 
" Theatrum Botani- 
cum," one of the 
best-known works 
on botany. The Tradescants, father and son, were dis- 
tinguished as importers of exotics from Holland and 
America. Their epitaph is characteristic : — 

" Know, stranger, ere thou pass, beneath this stone 
Lye John Tradescant, grandsire, father, son. 
The last died in his spring ; — the other two 
Liv'd till they had travell'd Art and Nature through ; 
As by their choice collections may appear 
Of what is rare, in land, in sea, in air. 
Whilst they (as Homer's Illiad in a nut) 
A world of wonders in one closet shut. 
These famous Antiquarians that had been 
Both gardeners to the Rose and Lily Queen 
Transplanted now themselves, sleep here, and when 
Angels shall with their trumpets waken men 
And fire shall purge the world, these hence shall rise, 
And change this garden for a Paradise." 



The Trades- 
cants. 



I/O 



ENGLISH PLEASURE GARDENS 



The Oxford 

botanical 

garden. 



Garden lit- 
erature. 



The first public botanical garden in England, how- 
ever, was not laid out until the reign of Charles L It 
was founded and endowed by Henry, Earl of Danby, 
in 1632, at the University of Oxford. Five acres of 
land were contained within its enclosure. Some of 
the beds were simple oblongs for long rows of plants, 
while others formed elaborate knots accented by cone- 
shaped trees. By 1648 there already flourished sixteen 
hundred varieties of plants, including twenty sorts of 
roses, four of foxglove, ten of lychnis, nine of clematis, 
and rare exotics such as nicotiana or English tobacco, 
and yucca or Indian bread. Entrance gateways were 
designed by Inigo Jones, and among other architectural 
features were several greenhouses, an orangery, and 
a house for the 2:ardener. The illustration shows the 
original orangery, gateways, and plan. At the close 
of the seventeenth century, Celia Fiennes wrote that 
these gardens " afforded great diversion and pleas- 
ure ; the variety of flowers and plants would ha\'e 
entertained one a week." 

The garden literature of the seventeenth century, apart 
from herbals, illustrates a variety of phases. 
The earlier books by such English writers 
as Markham and Lawson practically re- 
ferred to Elizabethan gardens. Then, as 
the influence of Le Notre became para- 
mount, a French school of gardeners was founded in 




GARDENS OF THE STUARTS 171 

Ensland. Of these and their works more will be said 
later. Dutch authorities were also consulted, as 
shown by Hartlib's " Discourse of Husbandrie used in 
Brabant and Flanders." But Parkinson, Evelyn, Rea, 
and Worlidge, the best English writers of this period^ 
although they took note of foreign fashions, did their 
utmost to uphold English traditions. 

At Hatfield there are a series of gardens especially Hdtfieid. 
interesting as showing the transition from the simple 
Elizabethan flower-garden to the more formal pleasure 
grounds of the Stuarts. On three sides of the present 
house, built for the first Lord Salisbury by John 
Thorpe of Padua, are gardens belonging, roughly 
speaking, to three different periods — those of Eliza- 
beth, of James I, and of Charles II. Each is a very 
good example of its kind. Perhaps the planting has 
been more or less altered, but the design remains 
practically as it was in the beginning. 

The earliest portions near the site of an ancient palace 
(of which the remains have been turned into a stable) lie 
west of the present mansion. But of the three divi- 
sions located there, only one was surely laid out in the 
time of Elizabeth. This is the enclosure surrounded 
by pleached limes, known as the Privy Garden. Here The privy 

garden. 

Queen Elizabeth herself must have often walked, shaded 
beneath the broad brim of a garden hat still preserved 
at Hatfield. This precious relic was a gift from the 



172 



ENGLISH PLEASURE GARDENS 



The gardens 
west and 
south. 



queen to her Lord Treasurer Burleigh, whose youngest 
son, the first Earl of Salisbury, afterward gave Theo- 
balds to James I in exchange for Hatfield. 

After the first Lord Salisbury came into possession 
of the estate and had built the present magnificent 

house on an axis with 







X 



0!!^M^S^^ 




PAVILION AT HATFILLD 



the old gardens, which 
he retained on one side, 
he laid out the remain- 
ing portion of the 
ground. The gardens 
west and south of the 
house therefore belong 
to the time of James I 
and of his son Charles I, 
when grass work was beginning to come into fashion, 
and the planting of flower-beds grew more formal. 
The garden-houses with their tiled roofs and terra- 
cotta balustrading are very good examples of Jacobean 
architecture on a small scale. 

Below the rather stiff parterre, on the east side of 
the house, are a series of terraces. The first, cov- 
ered with turf, is now used as a croquet-ground and 
was formerly a bowling-green. Next comes a maze 
outlined with yew. The lowest terrace contains a 
charming oblong garden enclosing a circle of beds 
planted entirely with sweet-scented spikes of lavender. 



GARDENS OF THE STUARTS 



173 






Celia Fiennes describes a garden similarly filled with 
nothing but lavender. Near the pond is an Eliza- 
bethan pavilion. 

For descriptions of gardens in the time of Charles I pariiamen- 
the parliamentary surveys of his connscated property veys. 
are most complete. Of the royal estates at Wimbledon 
and Theobalds, among others, we can thus form an 
exceptionally good idea. Part 
and parcel, the beauties they 
contain as well as their money 
value were carefully noted down 
in the inventories made for the 
benefit of the Commonwealth. 

At Wimbledon, the favourite 
country-seat of Henrietta Maria, 
the three principal enclosures 
contained the vineyard, the 
orange garden, and the great 
garden, all intimately connected 
with the dwelling-house, and cov- 
ering between fifteen and twenty acres. The kitchen, wimwedon. 
pheasant, and " hartichoke " gardens, as rather for use 
than for ornament, were kept more in the background. 
High brick walls shut out the park and formed the 
main boundaries, while wooden palings served for the 
partitions of minor importance. The plan was in- 
tended to seclude the gardens from the rest of the 








PAVJLIOM : HATFIELD 



i;4 



ENGLISH PLEASURE GARDENS 



The sym- 
metrical ar- 
rangement. 



A garden- 
house. 



i 



grounds, while permitting them to appear to the great- 
est advantage from the house. To assist in this 
arrangement both the house and main gardens were 
placed on the same axis. 

Each part of the garden was laid out symmetrically 
with knots of choice flowers, bordered with box, grass- 
plots, fountains, and statues. Several wooden pavilions 

varying in size were placed 
at the ends of the paths. 
Usually their roofs were 
covered with blue slate, and 
their floors paved with 
stone, brick, or tiles. 

Next the mansion came 
a broad gravel walk, 170 
yards long and 25 feet wide, 
running from east to west. 
At one end of this walk 
stood a " Garden-House, 
part of boards part of rails, covered with blue slate, and 
ridged and guttered with lead, paved with square stone, 
having one door going into the end alley, leading into 
the said upper level, and one other door opening into 
the Hartichoke Garden." Two similar " garden, sum- 
mer, or shadow houses " were placed, one on the north 
side of the gravel alley, the other in the middle of the 
east wall. 








SIDE DOOR To A GARDEN 



GARDENS OF THE STUARTS 175 

A quaint feature in a little grass court near the house 
was an elaborate bird-cage. It was described as having 
"three open turrets very well wrought for the sitting a bird-cage 
and perching of birds ; and also having standing in it 
one very fair and handsome fountain, with three cisterns 
of lead belonging to it, and many several small pipes 
of lead, gilded, which, when they flow and fall into the 
cisterns, make a pleasant noise. The turrets, fountain, 
and little court are all covered with strong iron wire 
and lie directly under the windows of the two rooms of 
the said Manor House called the Balcony Room, and 
the Lord's Chamber ; from which Balcony Room one 
pavement of black and white marble containing 104 
foot, railed with rails of wood on each side thereof, 
extends itself into the said alley over the middle of 
the said bird-cage. This bird-cage is a great orna- 
ment both to the House and Garden." Such aviaries 
were very popular in the seventeenth century. They 
were sometimes intended to contain people as well as 
birds. It will be remembered how during the reign 
of Charles II, Lady Castlemain used to receive her 
admirers in an aviary, and was playfully entitled the 
" bird of passage." The " Bird-cage " at Melbourne was 
practically an arbour intended entirely for people. 

An account of the maze and the wilderness is espe- The maze 
cially interesting. " The Maze consists of young trees, wilderness, 
wood, and sprays of good growth and height, cut into 



1/6 ENGLISH PLEASURE GARDENS 

several meanders, circles, semi-circles, windings, and 
intricate turnings, the walks or intervals whereof are 
all grass-plots. This Maze, as it is now ordered, adds 
very much to the worth of the Upper Level. The 
Wilderness (a work of vast expence to the maker 
thereof) consists of many young trees, woods, and 
sprays of good growth and height, cut and formed into 
several ovals, squares, and angles, very well ordered ; 
in most of the angular points whereof, as also in the 
centre of every oval, stands one Lime tree or Elm. 
All the alleys of this Wilderness, being in number 
eighteen, are of a gravelled earth very well ordered 
and maintained ; the whole work being compiled with 
such order and decency, as that it is not one of the 
least of the ornaments of the said Manor or Mansion 
House." 
The ban- A simple gardcn-housc was placed at the west end 

queting 

house. of the turfed terrace. Opposite stood a much more 

elaborate construction. " One fair banqueting house, 
most of wood ; the model thereof containing a fair 
round in the middle of four angles, covered with blue 
slate, and ridged and guttered with lead, wainscoted 
round from the bottom to the roof, varnished with 
green within and without, benched in the angles, hav- 
ing sixteen windows or covers of the same wainscot 
to open or shut at pleasure, having also sixteen half 
rounds of glass to enlighten the room when those 



GARDENS OF THE STUARTS 177 

covers are shut up ; the floor paved with painted tile 
in the angles and with squared stone in the middle ; 
in one of which angles stands a table of artificial stone 
very well polished ; and in every of the said angles, 
besides the said benches, there stands one wainscot 
chair. There are to the said banqueting house two 
double leaved doors, the one pair of which doors 
opens in the very middle of the said tarras, the outside 
thereof being gilt, with several coats of arms ; the other 
of the said leaved doors opens into a fair walk within 
the Park, planted with Elms and Lime trees, extend- 
ing itself from the said banqueting house in a direct 
line eastward, to the very Park pale. The round of 
the said banqueting house is handsomely arched ; 
within which thirteen heads or statues, gilded, stand 
in circular form, adding very much to the beauty of 
the whole room." 

A quaint feature was the private walk, where, un- 
observed, many important interviews took place. It 
was enclosed by a high thorn hedge. 

At Theobalds, the general idea of the gardens was Theobalds, 
much the same as at Wimbledon. But there are 
one or two additional and characteristic features. 
Among them a knot "compassed aboute with a 
Quadrangle or square squadron Quicksett hedge of 
white thorn and privett of nine foot in height, cutt 
into a compleate fashion with fower round arbors with 



178 



ENGLISH PLEASURE GARDENS 



Richmond 
Court. 



seats in them in each corner, with two Doore wayes 
betweene each arbour, in all the fower sides and be- 
tweene the two doore wayes in each side runs out a 
Roman T : made of the same sort of hedginge and 
of the same height." Two figures of wainscot well 
carved were in the middle of two of the knots, and 
there were covered alleys where " one might walk two 
myle in the walkes before he came to their ends." 

The gardens at Richmond Court are less fully 
described and contained nothing especially original. 
Yew trees marked the centres of the box-bordered 
flower-beds, the brick walls twelve feet high were 
covered with fruit trees, and the water supply was 
contained in a lead cistern, 
symmetrically laid out with 223 trees. 
handsome bird-cage for turtle doves. 
Thepreva- After the Restoration the seventeenth-century gar- 
horticuiture. dcns became more numerous. Worlidge, writing about 
the year 1675, says: — 

" Neither is there a noble or pleasant seat in Eng- 
land but hath its gardens for pleasure and delight, 
scarce an ingenious citizen that by his confinement 
to a shop being denied the privilege of a real garden 
but hath his boxes, pots, and other receptacles for 
flowers, plants, etc. 

" So that we may without vanity conclude that a 
garden of pleasant avenues, walks and fruits, flowers 



The great orchard was 
Here was a 



GARDENS OF THE STUARTS 



179 



and other branches springing from it well composed, 
is the only permanent inanimate object of delight the 
world affords. 

" Such is its pre-excellency that scarce a cottage of 
the southern parts of England but hath its propor- 
tionate garden." 

In many respects the garden remained the same 
as in the time of Queen Elizabeth. It formed an ad- 
junct to the dwelling-house, which was entered through 
a forecourt and 






1^ f 






. -/» 






^^in 




THE TERRACE . 3KY/^PTOM 



possibly a house 
court ; it was to 
be square in form, 
enclosed by walls, 
a hedge, or a 
fence, and often 
adjoined by a ter- 
race. But the fan- 
tastic spirit of the 

early Renaissance had been broken by Puritanical 
common-sense. Quaint figures in clipped box, elaborate 
wooden galleries, and luxurious masses of flowers began 
to seem superfluous. Despite protests, carefully raked 
gravel paths, smooth squares of grass, and a few 
specimens of rare exotics were now the centres of 
admiration. 

In Pepys' " Diary " he records a conversation with 



i8o 



ENGLISH PLEASURE GARDENS 



Pepys on 
the new 
fashion. 



Rea's 
protest. 



the architect Hugh May about the gardens of this 
period, laid out in the height of the style, which evi- 
dently met with their approval. 

"22nd Lord's Day. Walked to Whitehall, where 
saw nobody almost, but walked up and down with 
Hugh May, who is a very ingenious man. Among 
other things, discoursing of our present fashion of 
gardens to make them plain that we have the best 
walks of gravell in the world, France having none 
nor Italy; and our green of our bowling allies is 
better than any they have. So our business here 
being ayre, this is the best way only with a little 
mixture of statues or pots, which may be handsome, 
and so filled with another pot of such or such a 
flower or greene, as the season of the year will bear. 
And then for the flowers, they are best seen in a 
little plat by themselves ; beside their borders spoil 
the walks of another garden ; and then for fruit, the 
best way is to have walls built circularly one within 
another, to the south, on purpose for fruit, and leave 
the walking Garden only for that use." 

Flowers began to be considered of less and less 
importance, and were planted in pots rather than 
directly in the soil. This gave a somewhat cold and 
forbidding aspect to the garden, which Rea protests 
was rarely "found well furnished out of the hands 
of an affectionate florist," and he goes on to explain : 



GARDENS OF THE STUARTS 



i8i 



" Love was the Inventor and is still the Maintainer 
of every noble science. It is chiefly that which has 
made my flowers and trees to flourish, though planted 
in a barren desert, and hath brought me to the 
knowledge I now have in 
plants and planting, 

" I have seen many gar- 
dens of the new model in 
the hands of unskilful per- 
sons with good walls, walks 
and grass plots; but in the 
most essential adornments 
so deficient, that a green 
meadow is a more delightful 
object. And as noble foun- 






It 



I - 



K\^ ^:ki^./.nir^^ 



tains, grottoes, statues, etc., are excellent ornaments and 
marks of magnificence ; so all such dead works in gar- 
dens ill done are little better than blocks in the way to 
interrupt the sight. 

" A choice collection of living beauties, rare plants, 
flowers and fruits, are indeed the wealth and glory and 
delight of a garden. 

" The new mode of gravel walks and grass plots is fit The banish- 
only for such houses or palaces as are situated in cities flowers, 
and great towns, although they are now become prece- 
dents for many stately Country residencies, where they 
have banished out of their gardens flowers, the miracles 



l82 



ENGLISH PLEASURE GARDENS 



The relative 
situation of 
house and 
garden. 



of nature, and the best ornaments that ever were discov- 
ered to make a seat pleasant. But it is hoped that this 
new, useless, and unpleasant mode will, like many other 
varieties, still go out of fashion." In Plot's " Stafford- 
shire " there is a picture of the house and grounds at 
Ingestre. The gardens consist of squares and ovals 
of grass, ornamented with statues, 
but do not appear to contain a single 
flower. 

Of the many books describing how 
gardens were to be laid out at this 
period, the best by English writers 
were " Flora, Ceres, and Pomona " by 
John Rea and the " Systema Horti- 
/ /''^'^/"^ culturae, or Art of Gardening," by 

John Worlidge. The first of these 
publications appeared in 1676, the 
second in 1677, both in London. 
The situation of the garden in relation to the house 
is taken for granted by Worlidge. One reason for his 
premise was the advantage of having the principal en- 
trance into the garden from the best room in the 
house to make the walks convenient for exercise after 
meals. 

" It may seem needless to say anything of the situa- 
tion of a Garden, it being so absolute a concomitant to 
your habitation that a garden remote or by itself, is 




GARDENS OF THE STUARTS 183 

neither pleasant or useful. Therefore where ever your 

house is, near it must be your garden." 

If, however, the house was not already built, in choos- The selec- 
tion of a 
ing its location, a site with good soil for a garden was site. 

selected, with a southern or southeastern exposure, a 
water supply, and a pleasant view. At some distance, 
a belt of tall trees was planted to break the wind in win- 
ter and spring, and furnish shade in the warm weather. 

Both Rea and Worlidge considered the " most grace- 
ful grounds an entire level." If the site were a hillside, 
then the gardens were naturally laid out in terraces, if 
possible below the house. " For it is much more pleas- 
ant to view a garden under the eye than above it, and 
to descend into a garden and ascend into a house than 
on the contrary." 

In speaking of the form, Worlidge says: "The round The round 

form. 

is very pleasant and some curious gardens there are of 
that form in foreign parts. The walls about such a gar- 
den are very good for fruit, the wind not being as severe 
against a round as against a straight wall. The walk also 
that circumdates the garden is not unpleasant, for there 
you may walk as long as you please in it, always for- 
wards without any short turning; some straight walks 
there may be that tend from the circumference to the 
centre. The several quadrants may be subdivided and 
planted with fruits, the borders of the round walks 
and the cross walks being sufficient for flowers and 



i84 ENGLISH PLEASURE GARDENS 

plants of beauty and delight. At the centre of this Gar- 
den may be planted a fountain, or in defect of water a 
banqueting house or house of pleasure. 
Description " A rudc draught of such a form is here presented to 

of illustra- 
tions, your view, the inner parts of the grass plots planted 

with fine trees, and the quadrants within the lesser circle 

planted with a variety of fruit trees, and the principal 

walks, round and straight, bordered with flowers and 

delightful shrubs and plants. 

" Encompassed with a palisade in the centre of your 
garden is a fountain of spring water always flowing, 
serving not only to refresh the spirits of such that de- 
light in the sight of it, but is necessary in dry and hot 
seasons to preserve your choicest plants from injury." 

A rectangular garden, however, was considered de- 
The square cidcdly preferable. " The square is the most perfect 

form. 

and pleasant form that you can lay your garden into 
where your ground will afford it ; every walk that is in it 
being straight and every plant and tree standing in a 
direct line, represents it to your eye very pleasing. The 
delight you take in walking in it being much the more 
as you are less careful : for when you walk in a round 
circle you are more subject to trespass on the borders 
without continual thought and observation of the 
ground. 

"You may divide your square into three parts by 
palisades, the long way beginning at your house, the 




Circular Garden, from the " Svstema Horticultura." 



GARDENS OF THE STUARTS 



185 




middle part containing a large gravel walk adorned on 
each side with a border of your most select plants, 
shrubs, and flowers 
between those bor- 
ders and the pali- 
sades, green walks 
with borders next the 
palisades, on which 
you may plant per- 
ennial greens and 
your more ordinary 
plants and flowers. 

" The other two par- 
titions of your square 
you may convert the 
one of them into an 
orchard the other in- 







;i^^6is 



i #-f^%f 







to a kitchen garden, 
which will be no 
small ornament to your middle garden of pleasure. 

" But if you are willing to celebrate so fair a spot of 
ground as the whole square to the delights of flora, 
make of them grass-plots leaving only borders on their 
confines for your variety of plants. 



" A draught of the square garden I have given here, mustration 

1-1 • 1 described. 

which may be varied as the designer pleaseth, each 



1 86 



ENGLISH PLEASURE GARDENS 



The enclos- 
ure. 



Brick walls. 



principal walk is bordered with flowers, each principal 
corner with flower pots and the middle of the quarter- 
square with staJtues. The farther end fenced with a 
palisade that the prospect of the adjacent orchard may 
not be lost where now the statues stand, if water be to 
be obtained, fountains would be placed with more 
delight." 

After the shape of the garden had been determined, 
the method of enclosure was taken into consideration: 

" When you have discovered 
the best Land and pleased 
yourself with the compleatest 
Form you can imagine for 
your garden ; yet without a 
good Fence to preserve it 
from severall evils that usually 
annoy it your labour is but 
lost.'' This protection might 
be afforded by hedges, wooden 
palings, wooden or iron palisades, or walls of earth, 
brick, or stone. 

Brick walls were considered best. Usually they were 
strengthened at regular intervals by pilasters, and coped 
with bricks set on edge and sometimes slightly pro- 
jecting. The dark purplish red of the seventeenth- 
century brick was often a beautiful colour, and a most 
becoming background to the peach and plum trees 





Gateway, Hampton Court. 



GARDENS OF THE STUARTS 



i87 




trained in fan shapes to cover its surface. Niches con- 
tainins" seats were often r — i; 

laiiung 3^ FLOWE.R-PonI gate: POST 

built at the end of paths hampton ^-? court 

and were among the pleas- 

antest places to sit and 

view the garden. The 

foundation of the wall ac- 
cording to Rea might be 

of stone as high as a foot 

above the level of the 

ground, but the upper part 

should be always of brick. 

The height of an outside wall was about nine feet. 

Lesser walls, dividing, for example, the fruit from the 

flower garden, rose only to 
five or six feet. White 
marble trimmings made an 
attractive contrast to the 
red brick. At Hampton 
Court there are several fine 
brick walls ornamented 
with niches and alcoves 
and pilasters. A portion is 
shown in the above illustra- 
tion. Another very beauti- 
ful and unusual brick wall separates the terrace from 
the garden at Annesley; it can hardly be seen in the 




ENGLISH PLEASURE GARDENS 



Wooden and 
iron pali- 
sades. 



Iron gates. 



Places of 
repose. 




illustration that the top curves downward between the 
pilasters. At Ham House there are some simple but 
good brick garden walls. One defining the forecourt 
is more elaborate, and contains twelve lead busts of the 

Roman emperors, placed 
in oval niches. 

Palisades of wood, or 
more often iron, were a 
characteristic innovation. 
They were used when a 
barrier which would not 
shut out the view was re- 
quired, and were fastened 
to the tops of walls built 
breast high. Numerous 
examples are to be seen of enclosed forecourts, as at 
Ham House and Levens. 

Gateways with beautiful wrought-iron gates w^ere also 
introduced at this period. At Hampton Court, Pack- 
wood, Kew, and Drayton are some of those showii in 
the illustrations. No feature 
gives more style to a garden. 

Walks, arbours, and places 
of repose in a garden did not 
cease to be considered of importance. 

" It is not the least part of the pleasures of a garden 
to walk and refresh yourself either with your friends 



AM ALCOVE AT ARLE.Y 




GARDENS OF THE STUARTS 



189 




or acquaintances or else alone, retired from the cares of 
the world, or apart from company that sometimes may 
prove burdensome to you, and when your own lassitude 
or the heat, rain, or scorching beams 
of the sun render the open walks 
unpleasant, to repose yourself under 
some pleasant tree or some covert 
or shade until you are willing to 
try the air again." 

A new method of making walks 
in three divisions was recommended 
by Worlidge. " The best for winter and wet seasons 
are those paved with stone, about the breadth of five 
feet, in the midst of a gravel walk of about five or 
six foot, gravel on each side of the stone or of grass, 
which you please. For on these flat stones may you 
walk securely under foot in all weathers." Walks of 

fine-screened gravel were 
considered as next best and 
very ornamental ; they might 
be bordered with grass "for 
your use in hot weather." 
In summer the pleasantest 
walks underfoot and over- 
head were those of grass arched over with a cradle alley 
of pleached trees. 

As there were few verandas of any description in 



Walks. 




190 



ENGLISH PLEASURE GARDENS 



Seats. 



Garden- 
houses. 




connection with English houses, it was particularly 
important to have arbours and other shady nooks in 
the garden. High-backed wooden seats afforded pro- 
tection from the wind, like 
the interesting example ex- 
isting at Canons Ashby, 
where there is a pretty, 
though small garden, which 
was laid out in 1 700. Such 
benches were painted white 
or o;reen. Sometimes the 
seat was round and placed 
in a corner of the wall ; 
then it might be covered 
with a circular roof half supported on the top of the 
wall, half on wooden posts or stone columns. " Having 
several of these seats facing to each coast," Worlidge 
says, "be the wind or sun either 
way, you have a place to defend 
yourself from it." 

Even such celebrated archi- 
tects as Inigo Jones and Sir 
Christopher Wren gave attention 
to the design of summer-houses. 
Their appearance always had a 
touch of quaintness. Either the eaves were made 
very broad, as in the illustration of the fishing-lodge. 






M. 



■■'A 



^»t?S\)l^.l5/<i;'»;'^•>^ 



AN OCTAGONAL GARDEN-HOUSE 



GARDENS OF THE STUARTS 



191 










ih(u\n ' 



5UM-DIAL: PACKWOOD 



or the pitch of the roof was remarkably steep, or 
the ground-plan was octagonal. In the Parliamentary 
Surveys accounts of a num- 
ber of these pavilions are 
described, with all their 
details. 

In the middle of one side 
of the garden Rea advises 
locating a " handsome oc- 
tagonal summer-house roofed 
every way and finely painted 
with landskips, furnished 
with seats about and a table 
in the middle, serving both for delight and use, 
a place wherein to store bulbs, etc." The charming 
little summer-house at Iford Manor near Bradford- 

on-Avon seems to answer almost 
exactly to this description, and 
a similar one at Bramshill is 
shown in the illustration on the 
opposite page. 

There are attractive pavilions 
at Nun Moncton, near York, 
and the Cedars, Beckington, 
Somersetshire, containing single rooms, one twelve 
feet square and the other ten. Large ones are at 
Charlton, Kent, and Drayton, in Northamptonshire. 



Examples of 
garden- 
houses. 




''^X-,^^M^li^M 



5\JN-DiAL-.TRlNlTY COLLEGf 



192 



ENGLISH PLEASURE GARDENS 



Green- 
houses. 




i ^ ' ' 









Sometimes they were two stories high, as at Severn 
End, near Worcester. 

Greenhouses were an important adjunct to gardens 

which contained many- 
exotics too tender to 
be left out of doors 
in the winter. Here 
also gillyflowers, carna- 
tions, and orange trees 
were forced into bloom. 
The latter were nu- 
merous, and sometimes 
when the greenhouse was particularly devoted to their 
use, it was called an orangery. At Wimbledon, as 
early as the time of James I, there was an orangery 
with walls of brick and the roof covered with blue slate. 
Here were sheltered forty-two 
orange, one lemon, one pome- 
citron, and six pomegranate 
trees. 

In the late seventeenth cen- 
invegetate tury, garden statues, obelisks, 

ornaments. 

dials, and other " unvegetative " 
ornaments seemed to take the 
place of flowers. The best position for a statue was 
supposed to be in the midst of a fountain or at the ter- 
mination of a shady walk, rather than on the naked 





Fountains, from the •• Systema Hokticultura." 



GARDENS OF THE STUARTS 



193 



GARDEN-HOUSE : PACKV/OOD 



surface of the earth or the centre of a grass-plot. 
ObeHsks, either plain or supporting sun-dials, were 
considered more appropriate for an open space of 
ground. Sun-dials were as numerous as ever, and 
constantly appearing in new forms. In New College 
Garden at Oxford was one planted in box. Flower-pots, 
painted blue or white 
and placed on pedes- 
tals or directly on the 
ground, lined the 
paths or surrounded 
the basins of the 
fountains. 

The importance of 
water could never be 
overlooked by reason both of its use and its ornament. 
If there were none at hand, it might be sought according 
to the precepts of Rapinus, an author much admired by 
Evelyn and quoted by Worlidge. 




Water- 
works. 



" Where small declining Hillocks you perceive 
Or any soil where flags and rushes live, 
Where the flat ground shiny moisture yields 
There hidden springs with confidence expect 
For Sedgy Places still do Springs direct.'* 



Every garden was supposed to have one or more Fountains, 
fountains, generally constructed of marble or some other 



194 



ENGLISH PLEASURE GARDENS 



Bowling- 
greens. 



Travellers' 
descriptions. 



sf "'^ixJ''^ yyp-'^- 



stone. The illustrations from Worlidge show a variety 
of different designs. Celia Fiennes mentions a clock 
" which by water-work is moved and strikes the hours 
and chimes the quarters, and when they please play 
lilibolaro on the chimes." 

Bowling had now become the favourite outdoor game 
to the exclusion of tennis. At Norton Conyers in 

Yorkshire there is a his- 
toric bowling-green where 
Charles I, while waiting for 
supplies, is said to have 
played for five consecu- 
tive days. At Levens are 
some old seventeenth-cen- 
tury bowls bearing the Bel- 
li ngham crests. A garden 
with any pretensions was 
always supplemented by a 
bowling-green, usually shaded by trees and varying in 
its proportions. 

The most celebrated orardens in England were visited 
by two travellers, John Evelyn and Celia Fiennes, 
toward the close of the seventeenth century. Each has 
left descriptions of these gardens, which add much to 
our existing store of information, and have been already 
quoted in this chapter. 

Evelyn was particularly interested in gardens and 



i^^fyrr^ 




GARDEN-HOUSL'.PACKWOOD 



GARDENS OF THE STUARTS 



195 



proposed to write a book about them, so his observa- swaiiow- 

^ ^ , field. 

tions are deserving of especial attention. Of Althorpe 
and Cassiobury he speaks with admiration, but does not 
describe in such detail as the gardens at Swallowfield. 
These were " as elegant as 'tis possible to make a flat 
by art and industry and no mean expense, my Lady 
being extraordinarily skilled in the flowery part, and my 
Lord in diligence of plant- 
ing, so that I have hardly 
seen a seate which shews 
more tokens of it than what 
is to be found here, not only 
in the delicious and rarest 
fruite of a garden, but in 
those innumerable timber 
trees in the ground aboute 
the seate to the greatest 
ornament and benefit of the 

place. There is one orchard of one thousand golden 
and other cider pippens, walks and groves of elms, 
limes, oaks, and other trees. The garden so beset with 
all manner of sweete shrubbs that it perfumes the aire. 
The distribution also of the quarters, walks, and parterres 
is excellent ; the nurseries, kitchen garden, full of the 
most desirable plants ; two very noble orangeries, well 
furnished ; but above all, the canall and fishponds, the 
one fed with a white the other with a black running 




WROUGHT IRON GRILLE : DRAYTON 



196 



ENGLISH PLEASURE GARDENS 



Drayton. 




''•«it;';ai:.,v. 



GATE-WAY- DBAYTON 



water, fed by a quick and swift river, so well and 
plentifully stor'd with fish that for pike, carp, breame, 
and tench I never saw anything approaching it. . . . 
The waters are flagged about with Calamus Arpmaticus, 

with which my Lady has 
hung a closet that retains the 
smell very perfectly. There 
is also a certaine svveete 
smelling willow and other 
exotics, also a very fine 
bowling greene, meadow, 
pasture, and wood ; in a 
word all that can render a 
country seat beautiful and delightful." 

At Drayton, in Northamptonshire, is perhaps the 
most perfect specimen of a seventeenth-century gar- 
den now in existence. The 
pleached alleys, the parterre 
with its gravel walks edged 
with grass, the banqueting 
houses, beautiful wrought-iron 
gates, and orangery are all 
in keeping. The Elizabethan 
wing, added to the original house of Drayton, bears 
date 1584, and has been attributed to John Thorpe, 
who was much employed in the neighbourhood. The 
owner and builder was Lewis, third Lord Mordaunt, 





o 
X 

z 

o 

H 

< 

Pi 

Q 

w 

oi 

w 

H 

< 

a: 
H 



GARDENS OF THE STUARTS 



197 



who succeeded his father in 1572, and died in 1601. 

His wife was Elizabeth D'Arcy, and their arms 

occur on the sun-dial, still 

existing on the low wall 

between the formal garden 

and the wilderness. The 

formal garden is evidently- 
made to conform to the 

shape of the enlarged house. 
The banqueting houses 

bear an earl's coronet and the 

arms of Henry, second Earl 

of Peterborough, 1 642-1 699. 

The iron gates were put up about 1699 by Mary, 

Baroness Mordaunt, who succeeded to the estate on 

her father's death in 1697. She married first Henry, 
seventh Duke of Norfolk, and second 
Sir John Germain, who is thought 
by some to have been a half brother 
of King William HI, and who is 
alluded to by Horace Walpole as 
bringing "the garden from Holland; 
pyramidal yews, treillages, and square 




sun-dial: BRYMPTON 




GATE WAY ■ KEW- GARDENS 



cradle walks with windows clipped in them." 




CHAPTER VII 



FRENCH FASHIONS 



French 
ascendency. 



W^ 


/wk 


mrii~^ ^^ 



DISTINCTIVE style of garden plan- 
ning and planting developed in France 
and spread thence all over Europe in 
the latter half of the seventeenth cen- 
tury. Previously, although the French 
had excelled in many kinds of horticulture, their gar- 
dens had developed no especial characteristics to dis- 
tinguish them from those laid out at the same time in 
neighbouring countries. Contemporary designs were 
decidedly inferior to those of the Italian Renaissance. 
But when Louis XIV came into power, French society 
underwent a revolution which had a far-reaching effect 
upon the outward expression of literature and art. A 
new policy was inaugurated by the young king, the 
reverse of that adopted by his predecessors. 

198 




• •--'^;44-^" 







Q 
erf 
< 
O 

u 



■z 

w 

X 

z 

w 



FRENCH FASHIONS I99 

Henrv IV, whose example was followed by Louis The previ- 

xiv^iii^ , i ^ ous policy. 

XIII, had kept the peace by insisting that the great 
noblemen should disperse from Paris and live prac- 
tically isolated on their country estates. His own 
tastes were simple, and he did not encourage others 
to indulge themselves with needless luxuries. The 
gardens attached to the royal palaces and to those of 
the aristocracy, as we see them depicted by Du Cer- 
ceau and described by Mollet, the head gardener of 
both Henry IV and Louis XIII, were neither extensive 
nor elaborate compared to those of Louis XIV. To 
be sure, the former contained most of the component 
parts of the later gardens; Mollet, in 1582, had already 
planted "parterres" and " compartements " of "broderie," 
according to the designs of the Sieur du Perac, the 
kincr's architect, which were illustrated by De Serres. 
Both Du Perac and De Serres were evidently well 
acquainted with ornamental avenues of trees, par- 
terres, bosquets, labyrinths, high and low palisades, 
trelliswork, alleys whose vistas were terminated by 
statues, fountains or perspectives painted on canvas, 
grottoes, terraces, canals, and other water-works. There 
was, however, a lack of freedom and continuity in the 
contours, which gave the design a cramped appearance. 

Louis XIV, with his passion for power, splendour, The new 
and centralization, began his reign by concentrating 
the aristocracy in the neighbourhood of Paris, to shine 



regime. 



200 



ENGLISH PLEASURE GARDENS 



Gardens in 
keeping 
with king 
and court. 



as rays emanating from the sun which he typified in 
his own person. To meet the requirements of the 
king and this brilhant court, remarkable constructions 
were not only attempted but completed on a scale of 
grandeur scarcely rivalled since the time of Hadrian. 
Royal palaces were built large enough to contain a 
numerous assemblage of courtiers under the same roof 
as the king. Magnificent gardens were constructed 
outside these palaces, where not only Louis and his 
court, but thousands of his guests — including finally 
the public at large — were provided with suitable parade- 
grounds. At Versailles, Marly, and St. Cloud, the most 
celebrated of these gardens were rapidly laid out under 
the king's personal supervision. 

" A un roi majestueux il fallait un decor en conse- 
quence," states M. Georges Riat in " L'Art des Jardins," 
continuing as follows: "The personality of Louis XIV 
explains the horticulture as well as the art and letters 
of his time. Just as the little gardens of the Middle 
Ages had failed to suit the Medici and other great 
Italian noblemen who found them too restricted for the 
display of their court, so the king desired vast parks 
symbolizing the immensity of his sway, where courtiers 
and visitors of distinction would be impressed with the 
new sovereignty. And as the writers and artists sought 
inspiration in the masterpieces of antiquity, gardeners 
also were inspired by these models. Extraordinarily 



FRENCH FASHIONS 201 

well-chosen they were to accomplish the desired ends. 
The pomp of a magnificent court could conveniently 
display itself in the broad and endless alleys among 
the parterres, where the beauty of the flowers and 
statues was only intended to bring into prominence the 
charms of the ladies, where nature, submissive to man, 
lent itself to every sort of theatrical fancy." 

The credit for all these marvellous works of art Credit to the 

king. 

was given to the king. While Le Notre planned the 
arrangement of the " bosquets and parterres," Le Brun 
designed the fountains and statuary, and Francini en- 
gineered the stupendous water-works, their ideas were 
said to be the king's. In the words of a contemporary 
poem : — 

" Au roi de toute chose on doit rinvention 

De toutes les beaut^s de toutes les merveilles 

Qui charment les esprits, les yeux et les oreilles." 

After making liberal allowances for poetical exaggera- 
tion, the fact remains that without Louis' active interest 
as well as his pecuniary assistance, such gardens could 
never have come into existence. Everywhere it was 
his delight to appear to do the impossible. The 
triumphs of man over nature were strikingly evident. 
Arid plains were diversified by a series of terraces, 
parterres of flowers, and marble fountains ; wildernesses 
of trees were pierced with avenues, irrigated by canals, 
and divided into beautiful orroves ornamented with 



202 



ENGLISH PLEASURE GARDENS 



Le Ndtre as 
leader of the 
new de- 
parture. 



Le Notre's 
style. 



architecture and sculpture. Only the king's imagina- 
tion and revenues could have sufficed for such trans- 
formations. 

Le Notre, however, was the actual creator of most 
of the famous pleasure grounds of Louis' reign and the 
originator of the new style. He was born in Paris 
early in the seventeenth century. At first he studied 
painting under Vouet in the studio with Mignard, Le 
Brun, and Lesueur; then he decided to adopt his 
father's profession and to succeed him as superinten- 
dent of the king's gardens. To fit himself for this 
position he travelled through Italy and carefully studied 
the magnificent villa gardens of the late Renaissance. 
The villas Pamphili and Ludovisi especially impressed 
him. But while these may have been his point of 
departure in the Italian style, the great garden archi- 
tect soon developed a system of his own as different 
as France from Italy, as French from Italian society, 
and as the seventeenth from the sixteenth century. 
The orarden of Louis XIV and of Le Notre was as 
distinct a creation as the architecture of Mansart or 
the literature of Racine. The superstructure may have 
been built on a classic foundation, but it developed 
decidedly individual characteristics. 

The style of Le Notre can be studied in the existing 
gardens he laid out, in engravings from his plans, and 
in numerous descriptions of their arrangement. These 





French Engravings of Gardens. 



FRENCH FASHIONS 203 

show that he understood the laws of balance, variety, 
and contrast, as well as those of symmetry. But in look- 
ing at the plans it must be remembered that the 
gardens were never actually seen from a bird's-eye point 
of view, that perspective would give the straight paths 
the appearance of converging, that trees and shrubs of 
varying height filled the geometric outlines of the 
" bosquets," that light and shadow played in and out of 
the scene. Such gardens were far from rigidly formal 
or monotonous when executed in the right spirit. Each 
feature had its object. The broad paths were to afford 
sufficient space for the enormous hoop-skirts of the 
ladies, the covered alleys gave opportunity for private 
conversation, the " bosquets " were " salons " for royal 
entertainments. Even the ornamentation had its dis- 
tinct purpose, and was not carelessly distributed. 

The most celebrated of these great gardens now re- The best 
maining is Versailles, though in their day Marly and verr^ues. 
St. Cloud were considered equally fine. During the life 
of Louis XIV, Versailles underwent constant changes. 
At first the palace was a hunting-lodge and the grounds 
insignificant. In the middle of the seventeenth century, 
Louis took up his abode there, and alteration succeeded 
alteration, until, when the grounds were completely laid 
out, he destroyed his own creations in order to replace 
them by new marvels. The vast enclosure of the park 
was a parallelogram divided into halves by a wide opening 



204 ENGLISH PLEASURE GARDENS 

between groves of trees, affording space for the canals, 
and a vista stretching far away to the horizon. Near 
the palace were the magnificent terraces ornamented 
with parterres of flowers, fountains, and statues. Be- 
yond were the plantations of trees pierced with 
avenues, and divided into fourteen " bosquets," not to 
mention several acres of untouched woodland. 
The view From the palace the visitor passed out, then as now, on 

terrace. a broad tcrracc extending the whole length of the build- 
ing, and flanked on each side by " parterres de 
broderie." Directly in front was the superb vista, 
stretching as far as the eye could reach through the 
centre of the park, ornamented by the Grand Canal, 
1560 metres long by 120 wide, forming at its extremity 
a piece of water 195 metres square. Innumerable mar- 
ble seats, groups of statuary and fountains, added to the 
sumptuous appearance. 
The Below the left-hand " parterre " was the orangery, 

orangery. . . 

a buildmg consistmg of a central gallery 155 metres 
long, by 1290 wide, and two lateral galleries each 115 
metres long. It was constructed by Mansart on the 
site of a former building by Le Vau. The scale 
and proportions are remarkably good, and the two 
staircases leading to it have been considered the finest 
pieces of architecture at Versailles. When Louis 
brought the Siamese ambassadors to look at this build- 
ing, they exclaimed that it was good enough to house a 




m 

D 
C 

CO 

O 

m 
w 

X 



FRENCH FASHIONS 205 

king. Behind the glass doors hundreds of Louis' 
favourite orange trees were protected during the winter, 
and thence distributed over the grounds in summer- 
time. In front of the orangery was a parterre de- 
signed by La Quintinie. 

The "bosquets" occupied by far the greater portion xhebos- 
of the park. Most of them still exist, although the ^"^ ^ 
wrought-iron gates which shut them in have often 
disappeared, and the trees are kept less trim than 
formerly. They were constructed by Le Notre, after the 
symmetrical avenues, intersecting the old hunting forest 
of Louis XIII, had been completed. Each "bosquet" 
was a grove of trees arranged to outline some geomet- 
rical pattern, and containing an ornamental feature in 
its centre. The first was the " Labyrinth," designed 
about 1 61 5; the last, the "Colonnade," was finished in 
1686. But each portion was remodelled again and 
again. The Palatine writes that " there is not a place 
at Versailles, which has not been done over ten times, 
often only to be worse for the change in the end." 
Among the most celebrated of these ornamental groves 
were the " Labyrinth," the " Theatre d'Eau," the " Salle 
de Bal," the " Marais," the " Bosquet des Domes," the 
" Isle d' Amour," and the " Quincunx du Midi." 

The " Bosquet des Domes" is perhaps the most inter- The Bosquet 

,. , ,, . . r\ -J. -I. • • des Domes. 

estmg 01 those now remammg. On its site was origi- 
nally placed the Grotto of Thetis, where La Fontaine 



206 ENGLISH PLEASURE GARDENS 

read aloud the " Amours de Psyche " to Boileau, 
Racine, and Moliere. This was supplanted by the 
Fountain of Fame, by the Baths of Apollo, and finally 
by nearly the present arrangement. The central foun- 
tain, enclosed by double rows of balustrades, remains the 
same, but formerly in the middle stood a gilded lead 
figure of Fame. On each side of the fountains were 
placed marble pavilions designed by Mansart, which, 
with eight statues placed in niches of trelliswork, have 
disappeared, but the other features have been recently 
restored. As a whole in fact the " Bosquet " has per- 
haps never been as perfect as now. The engraving 
by Israel Silvestre gives a good idea of its appearance 
in 1 612. 

The The other " bosquets " were equally if not more 

^ ^"° ■ elaborate. In the " Labyrinth " were lead animals 

coloured to make them as lifelike as possible, and 

considered to be among the greatest marvels. The 

" Marais " was a very conventional swamp designed 

TheMarais. by Mmc. de Montcspau and ornamented by a formal 
island, bearing a bronze tree which spouted water from 
each of its iron leaves. On two opposite sides were 
the celebrated " buffets," gigantic sideboards of white 
and red marble. From the shelves water spouted in 
the shape of glasses, carafes, and vases, which looked 
as though they were made of rock crystal. In the 

The Theatre .t>, ^a 1,1- » r 1 

d'Eau. " Theatre d hau was a stage framed and ornamented 



FRENCH FASHIONS 



207 



statuary. 



by numerous and various water-works. Spouts of 
water took the place of footlights and fell from dozens 
of fountains or rose from others. While music 
sounded, twelve different combinations of water, form- 
ing aigrettes, lances, chandeliers, etc., played upon the 
stage. The "Salle de Bal " was an elliptical "bosquet," 
enclosing an arena surrounded by several rows of 
seats. In the centre of the arena the dancers assembled, 
and sometimes the king himself took part in the ballet. 

The statuary was mostly inspired from the antique, xhe 
if not an exact copy of some well- 
known work of art, such as the 
Venus of Medici or the Venus of 
Richelieu. It was profusely scattered 
throughout the gardens and park, to 
terminate a perspective, embellish a 
fountain, or adorn the centre of a 
parterre. 

More originality was shown in the vases of marble, vases. 
bronze, or lead. They were also of classic design, but 
more modern in sentiment. Blondel edited a book 
called " Profils et ornements de vases, executez en 
marbre, bronze et plombs dans les Jardins de Ver- 
sailles, Trianon, et Marly." The urn shown in the illus- 
tration is French in character. 

The French style exerted a marked influence in French m- 

. . fluence in 

England. On account of its expense, however, it England. 




208 



ENGLISH PLEASURE GARDENS 



Hampton 
Court. 



was seldom reproduced except in the larger gardens, 
principally in those belonging to the king. Charles 
II desired to emulate Louis XIV, and for this pur- 
pose he endeavoured to persuade 
Le Notre, among other French 
garden architects, to enter his ser- 
vice. It is not absolutely certain 
whether Le Notre ever came to 
England, but it is generally sup- 
posed that he designed the plan 
of St. James's Park and important 
alterations at Hampton Court. 
Other English gardens which have 
been attributed to him are those 
at Chatsworth, Bramham, and 
Holme Lacey. At any rate these have much in com- 
mon with the French style. Beaumont, who called 
himself a pupil of Le Notre, remodelled part of the 
gardens at Levens, and also assisted at Hampton Court. 
La Quintinie gave Charles various suggestions, but 
could not be persuaded to remain in his employ. 
Finally John Rose, a protege of the Earl of Essex, 
who had been sent by him to study the arrange- 
ment of Versailles, was appointed royal gardener. 
Rose, with his pupil and successor, London, then be- 
came the leaders of the Anorlo-French school. 

The natural beauties of Hampton Court were 





o 

X 

M 
Q 

<! 
O 



FRENCH FASHIONS 



209 




greater than those of Versailles on account of the 
proximity of the river Thames, but there was less 
opportunity for obtaining 
a view of the surrounding 
country. When Charles II 
began his improvements, 
the stretch of ground be- 
hind the palace was ap- 
parently devoid of interest. 
His gardeners (inspired by 
Le Notre, if not under his 
actual guidance) laid out the three avenues of limes 
converging in a goose-foot at the west of the palace. 
On the line of the principal axis of the palace beyond 
the goose-foot, is a canal of water 
three quarters of a mile long and 
one hundred and twenty-six feet 
wide, fed by the Longford River. 
Five hundred acres came within 
the scope of the design which was 
afterward completed by William III. 
In Knyff and Kip's " Britannia 
Illustrata " is a bird's-eye view of 
the palace and its surroundings 
as they appeared early in the 
eighteenth century, with the Pond Garden, the banqueting 
house, and other Tudor features much as they were when 




210 



ENGLISH PLEASURE GARDENS 



Bramham. 



Melbourne. 



first laid out, and the new gardens begun under Charles II 
and completed in the two following reigns. Later Kent 
swept away the parterres of embroidery and many 
other curious features, substituting for them the 
present lawns of grass. Enough remains, however, 
to form one of the most delightful series of gardens 
in England. 

At Bramham in Yorkshire is the most extensive 
and in certain respects the finest specimen of the 
French style in England. The park containing hun- 
dreds of acres is covered with a forest of magnificent 
trees pierced with broad avenues. As the ground is 
hilly there are opportunities for beautiful vistas, which 
in some cases are terminated with handsome vases. 

The water-works are exten- 
sive ; a long canal reflects 
the foliage on its surface like 
a mirror. The spirit of Ver- 
sailles has never been more 
delightfully reproduced. 

Another very charming 
garden in the French style 
is at Melbourne. Sir John 
Coke, Secretary of State 
under Charles I, acquired 
the estate in 1628. The present gardens were laid out 
for Thomas Coke, afterward chamberlain to George I, 












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THE BIRDCAGE. -.nLLBOURNE 




Trees and Water, Bramham. Photograph by T. Maffet. 



FRENCH FASHIONS 



211 



Levens. 



by London's partner, Wise, between 1704 and 171 1. 
Near the house are some grass terraces badly cut up 
with poorly designed flower-beds, but the rest of the 
gardens were planned with great skill and have been 
kept up almost to perfection. The scale of the walks, 
the square basin of water, the fountains and statuary 
are excellent. In the middle of one side of the pond 
is the bird-cage arbour, a splendid piece of wrought- 
iron work which would look better if not painted white. 

The gardens at Wrest Park were laid out by wrestand 
Henry, Duke of Kent, early in the 
eighteenth century, and are in the 
French style. They are particularly 
noticeable for their beautiful avenues 
of elms. One of them forms a per- 
spective through the middle of the 
park ornamented with a long canal. Another of the 
avenues was laid out to commemorate the landing of 
William III. Other gardens showing Le Notre's 
influence are at Holme Lacey, where there is a 
charming garden-house and some grass alleys bor- 
dered with fine yew hedges, and at Levens, where a 
part of the gardens was designed by Beaumont, who 
was a pupil of Le Notre, also employed at Hamp- 
ton Court. Views of 

English gar- 
Gardens in the French style, many of which have dens in the 

French 

disappeared, are shown in Kip's " Britannia Illustrata," style. 




212 



ENGLISH PLEASURE GARDENS 



English 
translations 
of French 
books. 




published in 1 709, in the third vokime of the " Vi- 
truvius Britannicus," issued by Campbell in 1725, in 

" Les Delices de la Grande 

Bretagne," and in Bade- 
slades " Views." All con- 
tain numerous bird's-eye 
views of elaborate schemes, 
showing that almost every 
great house at this period 
was surrounded by magnifi- 
cent gardens extending into 
the park with long avenues of trees. Among the finest 
were those at Badminton, Brome Hall, Cassiobury, 
Boughton, Hinchinbrooke WoUaton, and Longleat. 

The works of contemporaneous French writers on 
gardens were well known in England during the seven- 
teenth and eighteenth centuries, and are frequently 
quoted by English authors. Among others the writings 
of Sieur Legendre and of La Quintinie were popu- 
larly translated, the latter first by Evelyn in 1658, 
under the name of the " Compleat Gardner," and again 
by London and Wise in 1699. " The Retired Gard- 
ner," from the French of Louis Liger, and the " Soli- 
tary or Carthusian Gardener," from the French of 
Frangois Le Gentil, were translations by London and 
Wise. 

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Park, Melbourne. Photograph ky R. Keene. 



FRENCH FASHIONS 213 

written before or afterward, is " The Theory and Le Blond's 

masterpiece. 

Practice of Gardening," by A. Le Blond, attributed to 
D'Argenville, translated by John James and published 
in 1703. It explains Le Notre's theories, as applied 
to gardens of ordinary dimensions, planned to be 
laid out and kept up at moderate expense. Le 
Blond's precepts are so valuable to every one inter- 
ested in this subject that they have been quoted 
almost verbatim in the following pages. It would 
be impossible to improve on either the matter or the 
manner. 

In the first place it was assumed that the garden 
architect should be a man of parts. He must be pro- 
ficient in the practice of the arts of architecture, 
drawing, and ornamental design, and in the sciences 
of geometry and horticulture. Starting with a natural 
sense of beauty, he should acquire good judgment 
from actual experience and from the contemplation of 
the finest examples of art and nature. Garden archi- 
tecture was a profession necessitating unusual intel- 
ligence strengthened by varied attainments not to be 
acquired without great difficulty. 

The garden was to correspond to the building in its correspond- 
neighbourhood. But the house was to be sacrificed to twe^entouse 
the garden rather than the garden to the house. ^ e^'^^^- 
" By reason a Country-house ought to differ from one 
in Town, where the Extent of the Buildings is more 



214 ENGLISH PLEASURE GARDENS 

necessary than that of Gardens, on account of being 
the more usual place of Dwelling and of Land bear- 
ing a higher Value. The country we court chiefly 
to have our Gardens in it more spacious and 
magnificent." 
Funda- Thcsc fundamental maxims were to be observed in 

mental 

maxims. laying out a garden. " First to make Art give place to 
Nature ; secondly, never to cloud and darken a garden 
too much. Thirdly, not to lay it too open ; and fourthly, 
to always make it look bigger than it really is." In 
detail these maxims are explained as follows: "In 
Planting a Garden we ought to have more regard 
to Nature than Art, making use of the latter only to 
set off the beauties of the former. In some Gardens 

Art to give wc scc nothing but what is uncommon, forced, and 

place to 

nature. preternatural, everything done by Dint of Money; 
such as high Walls to terraces, Great Stairs of stone 
like as many Quarries, Fountains cluttered with 
Ornaments, and abundance of Arbours, Cabinets, and 
Porticoes of Lattice work filled with Figures, Vases, 
and so forth, which shew more manual Art than 
anything else. 

Open spaces " Gardens should not be made dull and gloomy by 
clouding them with Thickets and too much Cover. 
Fine openings should be preserved about the Build- 
ing and in other places where the Prospect of the 
Country can be seen to advantage : for which reason 



FRENCH FASHIONS 215 

we never set anything upon Parterres, Terraces, Bowl- 
ing-Greens, Slopes, etc., but small Yews and Flower- 
ing Shrubs which taking up little room in the Air, 
we have the free Prospect of everything about us. 

"We now often fall into the contrary Extreme and Mystery, 
lay our Gardens too open under the pretence of mak- 
ing the Parts large ; there are twenty considerable 
Gardens about Paris spoiled by this very thing, and 
where it is needless to go into them to see them ; you 
discover the whole at one view from the Vestibule of 
the House without troubling yourself to walk in 
them. This is certainly very wrong. The pleasure 
of a Garden is to have the View stopt in certain 
places, that you may be led on with Delight to see 
the more agreeable Parts of it, as fine Groves or 
Woodwork, Green Halls adorned with Fountains and 
Figures, etc. Those great flat Parts and the Walks 
about them rob us, as I may say, of the room where 
the Wood and raised Works should grow, which 
make the Contrariety and Change in a garden, and 
which make all the rest valuable ; when the shade of 
these, which is so necessary, is wanting there is no 
walking in summer without being roasted, which is 
one of the greatest Inconveniences and Faults that 
can be. 

" Gardens that lie thus open, have commonly indeed scale, 
a fine and extensive Prospect, the Walls being under 



2l6 



ENGLISH PLEASURE GARDENS 



General pro- 
portions. 



The garden 
to be below 
the house. 



Terraces, and nothing intervening to shut out the 
sight any way : but that is what makes them look half 
as little again as they truly are ; for comparing them 
with the neighbouring Country, with which they are 
blended, in the view, they appear, as it were, no 
bigger than one's Hand, contrary to that fundamental 
Maxim of making a Garden always look bigger than 
it really is, either by artfully stopping the Eye with 
Hedges, Walks of Trees, or Woods judiciously placed 
and kept to a proper height, or making Blinds of Wood 
against the Walls to amuse the Eye with a consider- 
able Extent where the Bounds of the Inclosure w^ould 
otherwise appear." 

The general proportion of a garden was to be one- 
third longer than its width, or the length might be 
once and a half the breadth; "that the parts by 
being longer than they are wide, may be more pleas- 
ing to the Eye: but to make it twice or thrice its 
breadth makes the place look disagreeable and no 
more than a Gut." 

The other general rules that were to be observed 
in the disposition and distribution of gardens were 
these : — 

" There should always be a Descent from the 
Building to the Garden, of three steps at least; this 
renders the Fabrick more dry and wholesome ; and 
from the Head of these Steps you have a general 





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FRENCH FASHIONS 217 

View of the Garden, or of the great Part of it, which 
yields a most agreeable Prospect. 

" A Parterre is the first thing that should present The 

parterre. 

itself to Sight, and possess the Ground next the Fab- 
rick, whether in Front or on the Sides ; as well on 
account of the opening it affords the Building as for 
the Beauty and Richness where it constantly entertains 
the Eye, when seen from every Window of the House. 
The Sides of a Parterre should be furnished with such 
Works as may improve and set it off ; for this being 
low and flat, necessarily requires something raised as 
Groves and Hedges. But herein. Regard should be 
had to the Situation of the Place ; and it should be ob- 
served, before you plant, whether the Prospect that way 
be agreeable ; for then the sides of the Parterre should 
be kept entirely open, making use of Quarters of 
Grass, and other flat Works to make the best of the 
View, and taking care not to shut it up with Groves, 
unless they be planted in Quincunce, or in open lines, 
with low Hedges, which hinder not the Eye from 
looking between the trees, and discovering the Beauties 
of the Prospect on every side. 

"If there be no Prospect, but, on the contrary, you Edging of 

... . parterre. 

have a Mountam, Hill, Forest, or Wood, that by their 
Vicinity deprive you of that Pleasure, or some Village 
too near adjoining, the Houses of which make no agree- 
able Sight; you may then edge the Parterre with 



2l8 



ENGLISH PLEASURE GARDENS 



Groves. 



Designs of 
parterres. 



Groves of 
evergreens. 



Hedges and Groves, to hide those ill-favoured Objects; 
for by this means you lose nothing, nor have anything 
to regret in Time to come. . . . 

" Groves make the chief Beauty of a Garden, and are 
a great Ornament to all the other Parts ; so that one 
can never plant too many of them, provided the places 
designed them take not up those of the Kitchen and Fruit- 
Gardens, which are Things very useful and necessary for 
a great House, and which should be constantly placed 
near the Bass-Courts, that the Slovenliness, which is un- 
avoidable in these Places, may lie all together, and be 
separated by a Wall from the other Parts of the Garden. 

" To accompany Parterres we make Choice of those 
Designs of Wood-work that are most delicate, as Groves 
opened in Compartiments, Quincunces, Verdant-halls, 
with Bowling-greens, Arbour-work, and Fountains in the 
middle. These small Groves are so much the more 
agreeable near a House, in that you presently find shade, 
without going far to seek it; besides, they communicate 
a coolness to the Apartments, which is very much 
courted in hot Weather. 

" It would be of use to plant some small Groves of 
Evergreens, that you might have the Pleasure of seeing 
a Wood always verdant in the very coldest Seasons. 
They would look very well when seen from the Build- 
ing; and I earnestly recommend the planting of some 
Squares of them in a handsome Garden, to make a 



FRENCH FASHIONS 219 

Diversity from the other Wood ; which having lost its 
leaves appears quite naked all the Winter. 

" The Head of a Parterre is usually adorned with oraaments. 
Basins or Water-works ; and beyond, with a circular line 
of Palisades, or Woodwork cut into a Goose-foot, which 
leads into the great Walks ; and the Space between 
the Basin and the Palisade is filled with small Pieces 
of Embroidery, or Grass-work, set out with Yews, Cases, 
and Flower-Pots. 

" In gardens that have Terrasses, whether Sideways, vistas, 
or in Front of the Building, where there is a delightful 
Prospect, as you cannot shut up the Head of the Par- 
terre by a circular Palisade, you must, to continue the 
View, lay several Compartiments of a Parterre together, 
such as Embroidery, Green-plots after the English 
Manner, or Cut-work which should be divided at con- 
venient Distances by Cross-walks ; taking care that the 
Parterres of Embroidery be always next the Building, 
as being the richest and most magnificent. 

" The principal Walk should be made in Front of waiks. 
the Building, and another large one to cross it at right 
Angles, provided they be double, and very wide. At 
the end of these Walks, the Walls may be pierced with 
Grills, or have Openings with Ditches at the Foot of 
them to continue the view ; and these Grills and Open- 
ings may be made to serve several Walks by disposing 
them into Goose-feet, Stars, etc. 



220 



ENGLISH PLEASURE GARDENS 



Balance. 



Diverse 
ornamenta- 
tion. 



" If you have any Part of your Ground naturally low 
and marshy, that you would not be at the Expense of 
filling up, you may employ it in Bowling-greens, Water- 
works, and even in Groves, raising the Alleys only to 
the Level of those that are near, and lead to them. 

" After you have laid out the great Walks and chief 
Lines and have disposed the Parterres and Works about 
the Sides and Head of them as is most suitable to the 
Ground, you may furnish the upper part and the rest of 
the Garden with several different Designs as tall Groves, 
Quincunces, Close-Walks, Galleries, and Halls of Ver- 
dure, Green-Arbours, Labyrinths, Bowling-greens, and 
Amphitheatres adorned with Fountains, Canals, Fig- 
ures, etc. All these Works distinguish a Garden very 
much from what is common, and contribute not a little 
to make it magnificent. 

" You should observe, in placing and distributing the 
several Parts of a Garden, always to oppose them one to 
the other. For example : A Wood to a Parterre or a 
Bowling-green ; and not to put all the Parterres on one 
side, and all the Wood on the other ; not to set a Bowl- 
ing-green against a Basin, which would be one Gap 
against another: this must be constantly avoided by 
setting the Full arainst the Void and Flat Works 
against the Raised to make a Contrariety. 

" And this Diversity should be kept not only in the 
general Design of a Garden, but likewise in each distinct 



FRENCH FASHIONS 221 

Piece ; as, if two Groves are upon the Side of a Par- 
terre, though their outward Form and Dimensions are 
equal, you should not, for that reason, repeat the same 
Design in both, but make them different within. For 
it would be very disagreeable to find the same thing on 
both sides ; and when a man has seen one to have 
nothing to invite his Curiosity to see the other ; which 
makes a Garden so repeated justly reckoned as no more 
than half a Design. This Fault was formerly very 
common ; but it is not so of late, every one being now 
convinced that the greatest Beauty of Gardens is Vari- 
ety. The several Parts of each Piece should also be 
diversified as, if a Basin be circular, the Walk that sur- 
rounds it should be octangular, and so of Bowling- 
greens and Grass-plots that are in the midst of Groves. 

" The same Works should never be repeated on both variety, 
sides, but in the open Places, where the Eye by com- 
paring them together, may judge of their conformity, as 
in Parterres, Bowling-greens, Groves opened in Com- 
partiments and Quincunces. But in Groves formed of 
Hedges and tall Trees, the Designs and Out-parts 
should be always varied ; which though different, ought, 
however, to have such Relation and Agreement with 
each other in their Lines and Ranges as to make the 
Openings, Glades, and Vistas regular and agreeable. 

" In the Business of Designs, you should studiously scaie and 
avoid the Manner that is mean and pitiful and always 



222 ENGLISH PLEASURE GARDENS 

aim at that which is great and noble ; not making little 
Cabinets and Mazes, Basins like Bowl-dishes and 
Alleys so narrow that two Persons can scarce go abreast 
in them. 'Twere infinitely better to have but two or 
three things somewhat large than a dozen small ones 
which are no more than very Trifles. 
An eye to " Bcfore the Design of a garden be put in Execution, 

future de- 
velopments, you should consider what it will be in twenty or thirty 

years to come; very often a Design which looks hand- 
some and of good proportion when it is first planted, in 
process of time becomes so small and ridiculous that one 
is obliged to alter it or to destroy it entirely, and plant 
another in room of it. 

" Care should be taken in the general Distribution of 
a Garden to place the Trees so at the Ends of all the 
Walks, that they may not offend the Eye, to which End 
the Corners and the Angles of every part of a Garden 
should be sloped, or cut hollow, which would make the 
Cross-walks more agreeable to the Eye, and more con- 
venient for walking, than to find Points and Corners 
advancing, which look ill upon the Ground and are very 
inconvenient." 

There are many other rules besides these, relating 
to the proportion, conformity, and place of the dif- 
ferent parts and ornaments of gardens, which are 
treated of in ensuing chapters, and are of great value 
to the student. 




Gateway, Brockenhurst. Photograph by E. A. Rowe. 



FRENCH FASHIONS 223 

After all these general rules, the several sorts of 
gardens in use are distinguished under three heads : 
gardens on a perfect level, gardens on an easy ascent, 
and gardens whose ground and level are separated and 
interrupted by falls of terraces, slopes, banks, flights of 
steps, etc. 

"Gardens on a perfect level are certainly the best as Onaievei. 
well for convenience of walking as for that their long 
Alleys and Glades having no risings nor fallings, are 
less chargeable to keep than others. 

" Grounds on a gentle Ascent are not altogether Ascending, 
agreeable and convenient ; though the Shelving be im- 
perceptible nevertheless it fatigues and tires one ex- 
tremely to be always going up Hill or down Hill without 
finding scarcely any resting place. These sloping 
Grounds are also very liable to be spoiled by the Torrents 
and require a constant Charge to maintain them. 

" Gardens in Terrasses have their peculiar Worth and Terraces. 
Beauty, in that from the Height of one Terrass you 
discover all the lower Part of the garden : and the com- 
partiments of the other Terrasses, which form so many 
several gardens one under another, and present you 
with very agreeable Views and different Scenes of 
Things provided the Terrasses are not too frequent and 
there be good Lengths of Level between them. These 
Gardens lie very advantageously also for Water, which 
may be repeated from one to another, but they are a 



224 ENGLISH PLEASURE GARDENS 

great Charge to keep up, and cost a great deal the 
Making." 

" 'Tis to these different Situations that the general 
Disposition of a Garden and the Distribution of its parts 
ought ever to be accommodated: This is so evident, 
that an excellent Design, which would be very proper 
for a Garden flat and upon a perfect Level, would be 
good for nothing in a Ground cut asunder by divers 
terrasses which break off both the Level and the Con- 
tinuity." 
Parterres. A scHes of divisions, called parterres, from the 

Latin word partire (to divide), was usually placed on 
some level spot near the house. These compartments, 
surrounded by borders, were laid in more or less 
elaborate geometrical designs edged with box. In 
common use there were four styles of parterres, laid out 
in embroidery, in compartment, in cut-work, or after the 
English manner. 
Parterres of The "parterre of Embroidery" was considered the 
and com- fiucst, and therefore placed nearest the house. The 
pa men . ^jggjgj^ ^y^g ^j^ imitation of embroidery outlined in box. 
The interior of the knots was filled with dark earth 
or iron filings, and sand was placed on the narrow 
paths to bring out the pattern in relief. Similar to 
these were the compartment parterres. 
Cut-work. In cut-work, the divisions of the parterre were filled 

with flowers and surrounded by sand paths. These 




Steps and Gateway, Brockenhurst. Puotografii i;v E. A. Rowe. 



FRENCH FASHIONS 225 

paths were wider than those in the parterres of em- 
broidery and compartment and were broad enough to 
walk on. 

The parterre after the EngHsh manner was considered Parterres 

. a I'An- 

the least ornamental. It consisted of a large grass-plot, giaise. 
surrounded by a border of flowers. The grass was 
separated from the border by a sanded path two or three 
feet wide. A boulingrin^ or bowling-green, was a sunken 
parterre a I'Anglaise. 

The border was an important feature, and might be Borders, 
given several forms. The most common continuously 
surrounded the parterre, was edged with box, daisies, 
sea-thrift, or some other plant, and planted with flowers 
and shrubs. Others were of grass or sand and orna- 
mented with yews, orange trees, or flowering shrubs, 
in vases, flower-pots, or boxes, or with lines of clipped 
and pleached trees planted in the ground. 

Walks were carefully laid out, their breadth pro- 
portioned to their length. The principal ones leading 
to the house, or to some important object point, were 
left open, while covered walks were placed where they 
would not obstruct the view, therefore not on the main 
axes of the garden. Some paths were single; others 
were in threes, the central one twice the width of those 
on each side. Lines of detached trees bordered these 
paths. Three feet was allowed each person, enabling 
two people to walk abreast on a path six feet wide, four 



226 ENGLISH PLEASURE GARDENS 

on one twelve, etc. The surface was covered with pit 
or river sand. 

" Hedges," Le Blond says, " by the agreeableness of 
their Verdure, are of the greatest Service in Gardens, 
to cover the Walls that inclose the Ground, to shut up 
Hedges. and stop the sight in many places, that the Extent of 
the Garden be not discovered at one View, and to correct 
and redress the Bevelings and Elbows of Walls. They 
serve also to inclose and border the Squares of Wood, 
to divide them from the other Parts of the Garden, and 
to prevent their being entered but by the Walks made 
for that purpose. 

" The most usual form of Hedges is a great Length 
and even Height, making, as it were, a Wall or green 
Tapestry ; all the Beauty of which consists in being well 
filled up from the very bottom, of no great Thickness, 
and handsomely clipped on both sides as perpendicularly 
as possible. They are usually cut into Fans, Curtains, 
and low Hedges, according to the Nature of the Place. 

" Those we call Fans and Curtains are no other than 
great and very tall Hedges which sei*ve to stop the 
View, to shut out Places that are disagreeable, or to 
hide the Divisions of a Garden, whence they have their 
name; Their Height should be two thirds of the Breadth 
of the Walk. The Hedges that are higher than this 
Proportion make the Walks look pitiful and disagreeable 
to the Eye, which is too much confined by them. 




y 





' 




1 



FRENCH FASHIONS 227 

" However, if you would raise Hedges very high, as High 

hedges. 

fifty or sixty Foot, you should plant tall trees in the 
line of the Hedge itself, and keep them clipped perpen- 
dicularly forwards and backwards, so that the Hedge 
may fill up to about twenty Foot and the Trees make 
good the rest. And as it would be difficult to cut the 
tops of these high Trees they may be left with their 
Tufts with no ill effect. It happens sometimes that 
these Hedges are unfurnished at Foot, which is reme- 
died by filling up the lower part with Box or Yew, sup- 
ported by a small trellis of five or six Foot high as may 
be seen in many Gardens. 

"As for the Banquettes, they are low Hedges breast Low hedges, 
high, seldom exceeding three or four Foot : they serve on 
the Sides of double Walks, where being also kept under, 
they are no hindrances to the enjoying a pleasant View 
between the Trees : they become disagreeable when they 
are so low as two Foot and a half, and at four Foot they 
are too high ; their true measure is three Foot and a 
half. There are some of these Hedges adorned at cer- 
tain Spaces with small Balls rising out of the Hedge 
itself, to keep Place with the Trees that are planted in 
the others : these sorts of Hedges with Balls, are set 
in Places where one cannot plant large Trees, and 
where there must be scarcely anything to accompany 
them because of the View. 

" You may likewise at proper Distances make Niches 



228 



ENGLISH PLEASURE GARDENS 



Hedges as 
back- 
grounds. 



1 






•J -ilE^-, U 



and Sinkings in the Hedges for placing of Seats, Fig- 
ures, Vases, and Fountains, as in Groves and at the ends 
of Walks, which is the greatest good of Hedges ; for 
then their Verdure, serving as a Ground to these Fig- 
ures, Fountains, etc., infinitely enhances their Beauty by 

making them look 
detached, and 
mightily improves 
their Worth by the 
Opposition it pro- 
duces: but in such 
particular Places 
as the Cloisters, 
Galleries, and 
Halls, which are 
macje in Squares 
of Wood, Hedges 
are usually cut into 
Arches and Por- 
ticos of different 







LEADEN BUSTS AT EILVASTON 



Forms, and these make even a better Effect than the 
others. These are all the Forms of Hedges that are 
most beautiful, and of the greatest Variety I could 
think of, without runnino; from a orood taste and into 
an impossibility of Execution. I was not willing to 
run the hazard of offering any pieces of invention 
only, lest they should appear too extraordinary to some 




A Surprise Fountain. 







■I 


IV 


1 


^^K^i 


«#::;■ 
* •i'^'-.'-^- 


f 


K^^^ 

9P^ 


^.,:i#^ 


tSi 




t^ 


■ >-*^*^^_^S 




^ 


■■HHI 



The Ceuars of Lebanon, Wilton. 



FRENCH FASHIONS 229 

People and even impossible ; but chose rather to col- 
lect Examples already executed in the Royal Gardens 
and those of the greatest Reputation, which are inserted 
in a particular Plate and expressly named ; that they 
who please may go and see them upon the spot for the 
cure of their Incredulity, and for forming a Judgment of 
their beautiful Execution. . . . 

" These Decorations in Green compose a kind of 
Order of Field Architecture . . . most proper for great 
Gardens where the conformity of the Hedges tires the 
Sight unless relieved by these extraordinary Verdures. 

" This is what may be done agreeable to the Taste in 
the matter of Hedges, and is at the same time the rich- 
est and most distinguished in the whole Business of 
Gardening. Heretofore they gave them a thousand 
extravagant Forms, which are yet much in use in the 
Gardens of Italy and Spain : some shaped out Men on 
horse-back, Boars, Stags, Dogs; in short an entire 
Hunting-piece. Others cut them into Pyramids, Obe- 
lisks, Balls, and Scrolls; instances of which are to be 
seen in some old Gardens about Paris. This practice 
still continues in Holland and Flanders, where these 
whimsical Designs are more in vogue than in any other 
Country. And this particular taste prevails not only in Porticoes, 
their Hedges, but their Groves, Parterres, Fountains, and andcaw- 
other parts of their Gardens have a great deal of it. 
The English and Swedes fall more into our manner 



230 ENGLISH PLEASURE GARDENS 

of Gardening ; having their Designs sent over to them 
from hence, which are well enough performed, and have 
also had French Architects and Gardeners in their 
country, who have left their Productions behind them. 
At present no one gives in to these Trifles in French. 
They chuse rather a plain regularity less cluttered and 
confused, which indeed looks much more noble and 
great." 

Porticoes, arbours, and cabinets of latticework had 
begun to go out of fashion when Le Blond's book was 
written, and green arbours formed by interweaving the 
branches of trees were perhaps more common. Green- 
houses or orangeries were frequently built. In winter 
they served to protect the numerous tender plants, and 
in summer they served as a gallery to walk in when it 
rained. They were usually built with an arched fa9ade 
like the illustration. Other little pleasure houses, like 
the pavilion at Holme Lacy, were common. Belvederes 
or pavilions of Aurora were similar constructions placed 
where they could command a view of the surrounding 
country. 
statues and Statucs and vases contributed very much to the 
" Embellishment and Magnificence of Gardens " and 
their natural beauties. They were made of several 
forms and different materials ; the richest were those 
of bronze, lead gilt, and marble; the ordinary sort 
were of iron, stone, or stucco. Statues either singly 



vases. 



FRENCH FASHIONS 



231 



or in groups generally represented mythological 
characters. 

" The usual places for Figures and Vases are along 
the Hedges, in the Front and upon the Sides of a Par- 
terre ; in the Niches and Sinkings of Hornbeam, or of 
Lattice-work made for that purpose. In Groves they 
are placed in the Centre of a Star 
or St. Andrew's Cross; in the 
Spaces between the Walks of a 
Goosefoot, in the middle of Halls 
and Cabinets among the Trees and 
Arches of a Green Gallery, and at 
the Head of a row of Trees or 
detached Hedges. They are also 
placed at the lower End of Walks 
and Vistas to set them off the 
better; in Porticos and Arbours of Trelliswork; in 
Basins, Cascades, etc. In general they do well every- 
where, and you can scarce have too many of them 
in a Garden. But as in the Business of Sculpture, it 
should be excellent, as well as in Painting and Poesy. I 
think it would be more advisable for a private Gentle- 
man to be content without Figures than to take up 
with such as are indifferent which do but create a con- 
tinual Longing after this Perfection, the Expense of 
which is only for Princes and Ministers of State." 





Italian in- 
spiration. 



A survey of 
the past. 




CHAPTER VIII 

ITALIAN VILLA GARDENS 

ROM the time of the Renaissance, 
Italy has been the fountain-head of 
inspiration for garden-lovers. Its 
climate is especially adapted to 
horticulture, its soil is a mine 
of garden ornaments, and it has 
maintained the traditions of the finest gardens of 
antiquity. For their design and ornamentation, the 
statuary, fountains, and pavilions of Italian gardens are 
unsurpassed. Their fame has been noted in England 
since the seventeenth century, and reproductions of 
all their phases have been abundant. 

A rapid survey of gardens as they exist or have existed 
in Italy will help us to understand these reproductions. 
In describino; them no mention will be made of the col- 
lections of botanical specimens and of strange animals 
which were initiated by the scientists early in the Renais- 
sance, for these collections, though interesting as the 




Fountain, Villa Petraja. 



ITALIAN VILLA GARDENS 



233 



forerunners of all modern botanical gardens and zoological 
parks, do not, strictly speaking, come under the head of 
pleasure gardens. Dur- 
ing the fifteenth century 
there were, indeed, no 
gardens constructed, ex- 
cept for more or less 
practical purposes. 

The transition from 
the mediaeval garden of 
the fifteenth to the ar- 
chitectural one of the 
sixteenth century was 
largely brought about 
by the influence of 
Humanists like y^neas 
Silvias Piccolomini and Giovanni Colonna. In the 

" Hypnerotomachia Poliphili " (a 
novel by Colonna, containing 
a mixture of love, philosophy, 
science, and archaeology) we 
read of topiary work, statues 
and columns, temples to the 
Graces and to Venus, not as 
existing in Colonna's time but 
as long before described by Pliny, and later to develop 
in the typical villas of the Renaissance. 





234 



ENGLISH PLEASURE GARDENS 



The rise of 
the villa. 



The three 
periods. 




In Italy the best gardens were laid out during the 
middle period of the Renaissance, beginning in the six- 
teenth century. A spontaneous 
delight in the beauty of nature, a 
sincere love of art and keen interest 
in archaeology, combined to create 
the formal garden in a nearly per- 
fect style. Almost without excep- 
tion these gardens were attached 
to the villas near Rome belonging 
to the cardinal princes of the 
Church. Many have been pre- 
served in practically their original condition, and may 
still be studied to advantage. 

Chronologically, the villa gardens can be classed in 
three divisions. Of the 
first period (1500 to 1540), 
the Villa Madama, by 
Raphael, is the best ex- 
ample now extant. In 
the second (1540 to 1580), 
the greatest perfection 
was reached in garden 
architecture. Among the 
country-seats built at that 
time are the Villa Caprarola at Caprarola, the Villa 
Lante at Bagnaja, and the Villa Papa Giulio at Rome, 




ITALIAN VILLA GARDENS 



235 



all three designed by Vignola. The Villa d'Este at 
Tivoli by Ligorio, the Villa Giusti at Verona, partly 
attributed to Sammicheli, and a number of others near 
Genoa also belong to the middle period. Finally, after 
1580, came the third or Barocco period, in which may 
be included the villas Aldobrandini, Pamphili-Doria, 
Borghese, and Albani, near Rome, with most of those 
at Frascati. 

The earliest, and the one which would have been xheviiia 
the most magnificent if its plans had been completely 
carried out, was the Villa Madama, designed by Raphael 
for Cardinal Giulio Medici, 
later Clement VII. Raphael 
was not an inexperienced 
architect, for — then twenty- 
six years old — he had built 
the Farnesina, a charming 
country house, and had after- 
ward constructed several 
churches and palaces. Bra- 
mante, when dying, had ac- 
credited him with excelling 

no less in the art of building than in that of painting. 
At the time he designed the Villa Madama he was 
architect-in-chief of St. Peter's. As Clement VII was 
an antiquarian and Raphael shared his interest in 
archceology, it is supposed that together they attempted 




^•'■""'^'■" ■ \ji>i " """ ■■111//,, 



GARPlN D00R;VJLLA nADAHA 



236 



ENGLISH PLEASURE GARDENS 



to reproduce a classic villa. But the site, on the 
abrupt slope of Monte Mario, was so peculiar that the 
general arrangement of Clements villa must have been 
original. Pliny's description of his own villa perhaps 
suggested some of the details, — the hippodrome, the 
swimming bath, the terraces, and the casino, — but in 

Raphael's hands these under- 
went a transformation. As, 
however, he died before the 
villa was much more than 
begun, his plans were modi- 
fied by his pupil, Giulio Ro- 
mano, though owing to the 
precarious position of Clem- 
ent VII, the building was 
delayed, and before its com- 
pletion sacked by the Pope's enemies. The general 
scheme was reconstructed by Percier and Fontaine in 
"Villas pres de Rome." At the entrance was a spacious 
forecourt leading up to a sort of loggia which ran under 
the house and connected it with the rear courtyard, an 
enclosure divided into four quarters, intended for flowers, 
but now overgrown with grass and weeds. One of 
several interesting details in this enclosure is the door- 
way, fianked by colossal statues, shown in the illustra- 
tion. The whole lay-out of this villa must have given 
more or less direct inspiration to later garden architects. 




POORWAY : CA/ABRIDGE 



ITALIAN VILLA GARDENS 237 

The Villa d'Este, the masterpiece of Piero Ligorio, Thevnia 
is one of those said to have been inspired by the Villa 
Madama. According to Percier and Fontaine, it was 
originally begun by the Bishop of Cordova; 
afterward it belonged to a succession of Car- 
dinals d'Este, and a recent occupant was the 
late Cardinal Hohenlohe. The large quantity 
of water employed to adorn the grounds and 
the great variety shown in its treatment seem 
to indicate a reminiscence of the Moorish gardens in 
Spain. 

Architecturally, this villa is especially interesting on 
account of the ingenious construction of the terraces 
and ramps connecting the palace with the gardens far 
below. The ornamental details are excellent in scale 

and proportion, and merit espe- 
cial attention. But the peculiar 
charm of these gardens is in 
their atmosphere, a charm none 
the less real because indefinable. 
The mass of the grounds is in 





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V 


* *^^ 


■»p''»-;S«;'«s0s^^ 














> 


"if 


^ 








1; 




V,-,. 




V -.V]- 


m 






'--■ 


^fe^.^ c- 




-TO 


^.^ 



shadow; the trees have grown 
to a great height, the once trim hedges are no longer 
clipped, and the parterres contain no cultivated flowers. 
In fact, the garden has become an unkempt wilderness ; 
but gleams of sunshine, the songs of birds, and the 
sound of tricklino^ water lisrhten the sfloom and o^ive 



238 



ENGLISH PLEASURE GARDENS 



Caprarola. 



The Villa 
Lante. 




to the desolation an agreeable melancholy. Looking 
from the terraces and belvederes, through the firm, dark 
foliage of the cypresses, there are wonderful views of 
the Campagna, which, stretching boundless as the ocean, 

fades into the sky on the distant 
horizon. 

At Caprarola, forty miles or so 
north of Rome, the octagonal 
fortress-like castle constructed by 
V^io^nola still stands intact. As 
the garden, however, is not kept 
up, it is chiefly interesting on ac- 
count of its charming casino, its weird hermae, fauns, and 
caryatides ranged along the terraces, and the stone stair- 
way bordered by dolphins spouting water into basins. 
The Villa Lante is another of Vicrnola's creations. 
In excellent condition, both as to house and gardens, it 
is perhaps the most perfect example of a seventeenth- 
century villa. " In narrow room, nature's whole wealth, 
nay, more — a heaven on earth." The beautiful motives 
which nature carelessly scatters over the landscape are 
here in harmonious contrast with art and logically con- 
centrated near the chief dwellings or casinos. For in- 
stance, the mass of water gushes from a formal cliff 
backing the highest terrace, falls into an adreuvoir 
or trough, rises in a spouting fountain, descends in a 
rippling stream, tumbles in a noisy cascade, and makes 




The Villa Lante. 



Garden Scene, from a Tapestry. 



ITALIAN VILLA GARDENS 



239 



a final appearance in the central fountain which feeds 
the miniature lake in the middle of the flower-earden 
below the house. The river-gods on each side of the 
cascade were added in the seventeenth century. In the 
older fountains like the one at Castello, an absence of 
water would have detracted but little from their beauty, 
as was fitting at Florence where pure drinking water 
was supplied only on Sundays, and at Bologna which 
furnished none at all in public places. At Rome, how- 
ever, the water-supply was abundant, and in the foun- 
tains originated by Bernini and his school water was 
the dominant and 
sculpture the sub- 
ordinate feature. 

The Boboli Gar- 
dens of Florence, 
surrounding the Pitti 
Palace, were designed 
by Tribolo about 
1550. The greater 
part of the grounds bears more resemblance to a park 
than to a garden, but there are several enclosures 
intended for flowers. One of these is connected with 
a charming spot ornamented by Parigi, known as the 
Isola Bella. This artificial island is in the centre of a 
geometrically designed lake resembling the one at the 
Villa Lante. 




GATE, WAY -. 5HRUBLANDS 



The Boboli 
Gardens. 



240 



ENGLISH PLEASURE GARDENS 



The Barocco 
period. 



The old 
Italian 
gardens at 
Wilton. 



'WW^. 



. - « J-J 






GATEWAY : CASTLE A5HBY 



The barocco period is demonstrated in the villas 
Medici, Albani, Aldobrandini, Pamphili-Doria, and in 
many others in the neighbourhood of Rome as well as 

scattered all over Italy. At 
this time the palace was en- 
riched by heavy ornamentation, 
the garden became correspond- 
ingly pompous, and the gen- 
eral effect was rather too 
magnificent. The Villa Pam- 
phili-Doria is one of the most 
elaborate examples in this style. Below the handsome 
palace is a broad terrace, covered with a typical parterre, 
large and well kept up. The 
ground is planted with an 
intricate tracery of box ac- 
cented by shrubs grown in 
decorative flower-pots. This 
kind of parterre has been fre- 
quently copied in England, 
but seldom with much suc- 



cess. The Italian gardens of 
an earlier period are better 
adapted for reproduction in 
northern countries. 




THE COLUMN! AT WILTON 



One of the oldest Italian designs was carried out at 
Wilton, for the Earl of Pembroke, by Isaac de Caux, 



ITALIAN VILLA GARDENS 



241 



in the first half of the seventeenth century. In 1640 
there was published a book which contained illustra- 
tions of Wilton and the following description of its 
plan: "The Garden within the enclosure of the New 
Wall is a Thousand foote 



long and about Foure 
hundred in breadth di- 
vided in its length into 
three very long Squares 
or Paralellograms ; the 
first of which divisions 
next the buildinor hath 



% 



. i-wfc. 1 






.-r k 



'^.: 












% 



^ \ M '^^ ' 






TREES AND A 6EAT : WILTON' 



ffoure Platts embroydered ; in the midst of which are 
ffoure ffountaynes with Statues of marble in theire 
midle, and on the sides of those Platts are the Platts 
of fflowers, and beyond them is the little Terrass rased 
for the more advantage of beholding 
those Platts ; this for the first division. 
In the second are two Groves or woods 
cut with diverse walkes and through those 
Groves passeth the river Nader having 
a breadth in this place 44 foote upon 
which is built the bridge of the breadth 
of the greate walk, in the midst of the 
aforesayd groves are two great Statues of white marble 
of eight ffoote heigth, the one of Bacchus and the other 
Flora, and on the sides ranging with the Platts of fflowers 




242 



ENGLISH PLEASURE GARDENS 




are two covered Arbors of 300 ffoote long and diverse 
allies att the bes^innino^ of the third and last division 
are on either side of the great walke, 
two ponds with ffountaynes and two 
Columnes in the midle casting water 
all their heigth which causeth the 
moving and turning of two Crownes 
att the top of the same and beyond is 
a compartiment of greene with divers 
walkes planted with cherrie trees and in the midle 
is the great Ovall with the gladiator of brass, the 
most famous Statue of all that Antiquity hath left, 
on the sydes of this 
compartiment and 
answering the platts 
of flowers and long 
arbours are three 
arbours of either side 
with turning Gal- 
laryes communicat- 
ing themselves one 
unto another; at the end of the greate walke is a 
Portico of stone cutt and adorned with Pilasters 
and Nyches within which are 4 fifigures of white 
marble of 5 ffoote high, on either side of the sayd 
portico is an assent leading up to the terrasse upon 
the steps whereof instead of pillasters are Sea Monsters 











o 



ITALIAN VILLA GARDENS 



243 



casting water from one to the other, from the top 
to the bottome and above the sayd portico is a great 
reserve of water for the Grotto." A celebrated 
feature was this elaborate grotto, which was always 
particularly admired by visitors to Wilton. 

At present nothing remains of the pleasure grounds The present 

pleasure 

designed by De Caux except a few scattered orna- grounds at 

, Wilton. 

ments. A comparatively new garden near the house 




ffm i kJ Ti l i I'm nTFtTiii i ui i i f i; i H i| i iij ju ii nm inn n ii umi inii m 1 11 'im v T n irr r rTrrff 



HOLBEIN PAVILION r^WILTON 



has, however, been laid 
out. It is about no feet 
long by 50 feet wide. 
Here the contrast of light 
and shade produces a 
charming effect. The 
dense foliage of clipped 
elm, yew, and ilex, form- 
ing a high boundary wall 
on the northwest side of 
the parterre, is a perfect foil for the gay colours of the 
flowers glowing in their full exposure to the sunshine. 
All the architectural features of the parterre are designed 
with great refinement. The fountain, suggested per- 
haps by that of G. de Bologna at Petraja, with the 
balustrading surmounted by amorini, the leaden urns, 
designed by Inigo Jones, the seats, and even the 
stone copings of the flower-beds show excellent taste. 
Above the garden is a triple-arched casino, called the 



244 



ENGLISH PLEASURE GARDENS 



The lawn. 



The Palla- 
dian Bridge. 






^ 

''AM 



C-i^> 



THE ?ALLADIAN BRIDGE : WILTOW 



sculpture gallery, in accord with the prevalent Italian 
style. Through the high clipped hedge a vista is 

gained along a straight path 
extending, on a line with 
the main axis of the garden, 
through a plantation of trees 
for several hundred feet, and 
terminated by the pavilion 
known as the Holbein porch. 
This was designed by Hol- 
bein for an entrance to the 
original house, afterward partly destroyed. 

Indirectly the beauty of the lawn, which covers over 
fifty acres between the formal surroundings of the house 
and the pretty, though sluggish, river Nader, contributes 
to the loveliness of the par- 
terre. It is restful for the 
eye to glance from the brill- 
iant flower-beds over the 
cool stretches of closely 
shaven turf, relieved from 
monotony by the occasional 
interposition of shrubber)- 
and groups of trees. Among 
the latter are some remarkably fine cedars of Lebanon. 
The Palladian Bridge, spanning the Nader, forms an- 
other delightful pavilion. This was formerly attributed 




VASE : SHRUBLAMDS 



ITALIAN VILLA GARDENS 



245 



to Inigo Jones, but is now said to be the work of a 
later architect, named Morris. The illustrations show 
its excellent proportions. 

Various other interesting architectural features are 
scattered through the pleasure grounds. An orangery, 
an exedra suggesting 
one of those at Pom- 



lA 



\ * 



/ \ 



a \' 



c ) V^ • 

'^1 ''zmz 



f M 



peii, a column sur- 
mounted by a statue, 

and a quaint Tudor 

summer-house, built 

of stone curiously 

carved and orna- 

m e n t e d, may be 

noted as especially worthy of attention. 

It is evident that the Villa d'Este furnished many shrubiaad 

of the ideas so successfully carried out at Shrubland 

Park. Here is one of the 
best-planned Italian gar- 



5TONE 6EAT: 5HRUBLANP& 




'■''-JB^i^. 






ARCH-WAV : CASTLE A5HBY 



dens in England. All the 
architectural features are 
good in scale and propor- 
tion. There are terraces, 
pavilions, vases, and statu- 
ary of charming design, 
as can be seen from the illustrations. The staircases 
connecting the terraces near the house with the pleasure 



246 



ENGLISH PLEASURE GARDENS 



Harewood. 



Bowood. 



Castle 
Ashby. 



grounds on the level ground far below are managed 
with great skill. 

At Harewood, the style of architecture is similar to 
that of Shrubland, as both houses were built by Sir 

Charles Barry. Below the 
house is a magnificent ter- 
race, where the planting and 
ornamentation are exception- 
ally fine and in the best of 
keeping with the surround- 
ings. Beside the retaining 
wall is a herbaceous border 
of well-selected annuals and 
perennials. 

Another fine terrace is at 
Bowood. The architecture is interesting in spite of 
being rather heavy; for both the house and its sur- 
roundings are sombre if 
not gloomy in character. 
Castle Ashby, although 
Elizabethan, shows Ital- 
ian influence to Q:ood ad- 
vantage in a series of 
gardens in different styles, 
extending toward the west. 
The so-called Italian garden is diversified by having the 
family coat-of-arms and various rococo designs, outlined 







iH 



'^^%'^.f^^"; 



1 



R05ARV WITH PERGOLA CASTLE A^HBY 



ITALIAN VILLA GARDENS 



247 



in box and filled in with many-coloured pebbles and 
coal-, slate-, or granite-dust ; the idea is the same as that 
of the Villa Albani near Rome. The archway connect- 
ing this with an adjoin- 



ing garden is shown in 
the illustration. 

Near the house are 
several parterres orna- 
mented with fountains 
and well accented by 
cone-shaped yews, laurels, 
and bay trees. Compact 
yew hedges mark the 




Rustic pe.kgola : castle, ash bv 



subdivisions, and the outer enclosure is framed by 

a curious balustrading in 
which letters, taking the 
place of the ordinary balus- 
ters, spell out biblical texts. 
This scheme is attractive 
more from a sentimental 
than an architectural point 
of view. The rosary is very 
prettily arranged ; in the 
centre is a rustic summer- 




6TATUARY AT LONGFORD CASTLE 



house, and a simple, rose-covered arbour, ornamented 
at intervals with statuary, surrounds the outside. 
The grounds around Longford Castle are, for some 



248 



ENGLISH PLEASURE GARDENS 



Longford 
Castle. 




distance, perfectly level. The parterre is sunk below 
the castle and engirdled by terraces. It is well laid 

out in the formal Italian 
style, partly bedded out and 
partly planted with hardy 
annuals and perennials. 
The architectural features 
are charming. A figure 
under a canopy supported 
by four columns, near 
the end of the main path, 
is especially interesting. 
The vases surrounded by 
flint pavement in the centre of each section of the 
parterre and the terminal figures around the semi- 
circle are also well placed and well designed. In gen- 
eral effect the parterre 
is formal without being 
too stiff or monotonous 
for juxtaposition with the 
castle. 

Other so-called Italian 
gardens are numerous 
in England, but few are 



vasl:lonc7okd castle 




PEIRGOLA AT LONGFORP CASTLE, 



worthy of the name. Marble statues and geometrical 
designs bedded out with geraniums and other showy 
plants form but a travesty of the real villa gardens. 




CHAPTER IX 

EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY EXTREMES 




XTREMES met in the eis^hteenth Thenseand 

fall of 
gardens (no romanti- 
cism. 

longer orisrinal creations or even 



century. 



English 



clever adaptations) had degenerated 
into meaningless repetitions of 
French and Dutch fashions. Con- 
ventional plans were mimicked or 
exaggerated until the formal manner became merely 
an affected mannerism. Finally, nothing remaining but 
the defects of the old system, a reaction resulted in its 
entire destruction. On the ruins was created the Land- 
scape Garden, in the strict meaning of the word no 
garden at all, but a stretch of cultivated scenery. 

249 



250 



ENGLISH PLEASURE GARDENS 




The abuse 
of symme- 
try. 



Throughout Europe this revolution accorded with the 
spirit of the times. Every sentimentahst, republican 

philosopher, or romance writer, 
rebelling against rigid law and 
order of any kind, delighted 
in this so-called return to the 
freedom of nature. Soon, how- 
ever, nature pure and simple 
came to be considered insipid, 
and its tameness was relieved 
by picturesque pieces of archi- 
tecture and other features de- 
signed to give the scene a more sensational appearance. 
A love of the romantic was partially inspired by 
the Chinese, whose gardens were designed to appeal 
to the emotions. Eventually this landscape or pictu- 
resque style, a too studied and over-sentimental struggle 
for effect, lost all spontaneity, and in its turn fell into 
decay. 

At the close of the first quarter of 
the century, French and Dutch influ- 
ences became paramount in England. 
Both styles were distinguished by a 
mathematical precision attributable 
rather to the geometrician than to 
the architect. Scale and proportion were considered 
of no special importance. The ideal was regularity. 




A DUTCH ARBOVJR 



EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY EXTREMES 



251 




If the garden appeared spick and span, with paths 
absolutely straight and smooth, and grass-plots ex- 
actly square and even, nothing was lacking, except an 
occasional statue or dwarf tree, to complete its per- 
fection. The larger the garden, the larger the number 
of grass-plots all alike and of enclosures similar if not 
exactly the same. Symmetry was 
carried out on a pointlessly large 
scale, for the corresponding objects 
were often too widely separated to 
come within the same line of vision. 
It seemed as though the proprietor 
was principally desirous of showing the extent of 
his property, and the gardener his knowledge of 
geometry, while neither displayed a ray of originality, 
or evinced any fondness for the real pleasures of a 
garden. 

The French style, without the guidance of Le Notre, Oppressive 

grandeur. 

had even in France degenerated to a mere display of 
magnificent dimensions, oppressive but seldom impres- 
sive. " A false taste for grandeur which is not made 
for man, spoils his pleasures," Rousseau remarks in this 
connection, continuing: " The grand air is always melan- 
choly ; it makes us think of the miseries of the man 
who affects it. Amid his parterres and endless alleys 
his littleness does but increase, a tree twenty feet high 
shelters him as well as one of sixty. He can never 



252 



ENGLISH PLEASURE GARDENS 



Dutch char- 
acteristics. 




occupy more than his three feet of space, and is lost 
like a worm in his immense possessions." This de- 
scription reproduces the impres- 
sion received upon looking at 
pictures of English gardens in 
the same style. Ineffective sym- 
metry, endlessly long, straight 
avenues with no apparent object 
point, and a succession of prim 
enclosures are wearisome in their 
meaningless rigidity. 
The Dutch garden is said to have been brought to 
England by William III, though some of its characteris- 
tics might have been discovered there before his day. It 
was an adaptation of the French and Barocco styles, hardly 
to be called original, but comprising certain features at 
least individual. This individuality was due to the 
limited extent of terra-finna and to the abundance of 
water in Holland. An ordinary plan became extraordi- 
nary because laid out on such a surprisingly small scale. 
A scheme covering dozens of acres in France was to be 
seen reproduced on a fewer number of feet in Holland. 
The parterres of Versailles might almost as well have 
been reduced to serve as embroidery for a pocket hand- 
kerchief. In a Dutch garden no tree could be admitted 
until its growth had been stunted, and no flower larger 
than a tulip could be allowed to engross the space 



EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY EXTREMES 253 

without danger of spoiling the composition. Shell-work 
took the place of marble, and glass balls or other trivial 
objects were often substituted for statues, as ornamenta- 
tion. Miniature canals were more usual than fountains; 
for the supply of water, though large, had not the force 
to rise to a height. A favourite architectural feature 
was a grotto, answering the purpose of both an arbour 
and a summer-house. This niche of shell-work, some- 
times encasing paintings of mythological subjects and 
sheltering a spout of water, was far less attractive than 
similar niches at Pompeii, where the barocco orna- 
mentation appeared more appropriate. 

The diminutive size of the Dutch gardens is well 
brought out by De Amicis in his account of Broek. 

" The gardens are not less odd than the houses. Miniature 
They seem made for dwarfs. The paths are scarcely 
wide enough for the feet, the arbours can only contain 
two very small people standing close together, the box 
borders would not reach the knee of a child four years 
old. Between the arbours and the tiny flower-beds 
there are little canals apparently made for toy boats, 
which are spanned here and there by superfluous bridges 
with little painted railings and columns. Basins about 
as large as a wash-bowl contain a Lilliputian boat tied 
by a red cord to a sky-blue post ; tiny steps, paths, gates, 
and lattices abound, each of which can be measured with 
the hand, or knocked down with a blow of the fist, or 



254 ENGLISH PLEASURE GARDENS 

jumped over with ease. Around houses and gardens 
stand trees cut in the shape of fans, plumes, disks, etc., 
with their trunks painted white and blue, and here and 
there appears a little wooden house for a domestic ani- 
mal, painted, gilded, and carved like a house in a puppet 
show." 
Minera- The bizarrc effects suggested in the preceding descrip- 

logical 

gardens. tiou are Still more evident in accounts of the mineralogi- 
cal gardens in Holland. Here vegetation was barely 
allowed to subsist on a few narrow strips of ground. 
Walls were ornamented with shell-work, parterres with 
variegated pebbles and statues made of cockle-shells. 

Grottoes. Evidences of Dutch taste were shown in England by 

the frequent introduction of dwarf trees, choice tulips, 
and canals of water. Although the dampness of the 
climate made grottoes peculiarly unattractive, they also 
were favourite accessions. Travellers early in the 
seventeenth century often described the famous grotto 
at Wilton, but this was rather in the Italian than the 
Dutch style. Evelyn designed one at Albury with a 
" crypta through the mountain thirty perches in length." 
Defoe mentions gardens at Richmond and Sutton Court 
where besides canals there were several grottoes, and 
others are described by various contemporaneous writers. 
Inconsistently such an example of laboured artificiality 
was the pride of Pope, as he was among the first to 
ridicule many lesser absurdities. 



EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY EXTREMES 255 
" I have put my last hand to my works of this kind, in Pope's 

• 1 r • 1 • grotto at 

happily finishing the subterraneous way and grotto. I xwicken- 
there found a spring of the clearest water, which falls in 
a perpetual rill, that echoes through the cavern day and 
night. From the river Thames you see through my 
arch up a walk of the wilderness to a kind of open 
temple, wholly composed of shells in the rustic manner; 
and from that distance under the temple, you look down 
through a sloping arcade of trees, and see the sails on 
the river passing suddenly and vanishing as through a 
perspective glass. When you shut the doors of this 
grotto it becomes on the instant, from a luminous room, 
a cajnera obscura, on the walls of which all the objects of 
the river, hills, woods, and boats are forming a moving 
picture in their visible radiations ; and when you have a 
mind to light it up, it affords you a very different scene." 
It is finished with shells interspersed with pieces of 
looking-glass in angular forms ; and in the ceiling is a 
star of the same material, at which, when a lamp of an 
orbicular figure of thin alabaster is hung in the middle, 
a thousand different rays glitter and are reflected over 
the place. 

" There are connected to this grotto by a narrow pas- 
sage two porches with niches and seats, — one towards 
the river of smooth stones, full of light, and open ; the 
other towards the arch of trees, rough with shells, flints, 
and iron-ore. The bottom is paved with simple pebble 



256 ENGLISH PLEASURE GARDENS 

as the adjoining walk up the Wilderness to the temple 
is to be cockle-shells, in the natural taste, agreeing not 
ill with the little dripping murmur and the aquatic idea 
of the whole place. It wants nothing to complete it but 
a good Statue with an inscription like that beautiful 
antique one which you know I am so fond of : — 

" ' Nymph of the Grot, those sacred springs steep, 
And to the murmur of these waters sleep. 
Ah, spare my slumbers, gently tread the cave ! 
And drink in silence or in silence lave.' " 

The English The English — perhaps because they had most abused 

rebellion. . , _ . 

the conventional system — were the hrst to raise an out- 
cry against formal gardening. Formality could certainly 
be carried to no greater excess; it was logical to seek 
beauty in a contrary extreme. Freedom from every re- 
straint was the gospel of the new school. Kent, its 
leader according to Walpole, was the first to jump out- 
side the fence and insist that the garden should be " set 
free from its prim regularity, and the gentle stream taught 
to serpentize." His method, as described by Lord Kames, 
was, "to paint a field with beautiful objects, natural and 
artificial, disposed like colours upon a canvas. It requires 
indeed more genius to paint in the gardening way: in 
forming a landscape upon a canvas, no more is required 
but to adjust the figures to each other: an artist who 
lays out grounds in Kent's way, has an additional task : 
he ought to adjust the figures to the several varieties of 
the field. 




Pavilion. Audlev End. 



EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY EXTREMES 257 

Kent was an unsuccessful painter, whose idea was to Kentth* 

innovator. 

make the garden a reproduction of the pictorial effects in 
nature, as seen in the compositions of Claude Lorraine, 
Poussin, and Salvator Rosa. " He felt the delicious 
contrast of hill and valley changing imperceptibly into 
each other, tasted the beauties of the gentle swell or 
concave scoop, and remarked how loose groves crowned 
an easy eminence with a happ)^ ornament, and while they 
were called in the distant view between their graceful 
stems, removed and extended the perspective by delusive 
comparison. 

" Thus the pencil of his imagination bestowed all the 
arts of landscape on all the scenes he handled. The 
great principles on which he worked were perspective 
and light and shade. Groups of trees broke too uniform 
or too extensive a lawn ; evergreens and woods were 
opposed to the glare of the champain, and where the 
view was less fortunate, or so much exposed as to be 
beheld at once, he blotted out some parts by thick 
shades, to divide it into variety or to make the richest 
scene more enchanting by reserving it to a farther ad- 
vance of the spectator's steps. Thus selecting favourite 
objects, and veiling deformities by screens of plantation ; 
sometimes allowing the rudest waste to add its foil to the 
richest theatre, he realized the compositions of the great- 
est masters in painting. Where objects were wanting 
to animate his horizon, his taste as an architect could 



258 



ENGLISH PLEASURE GARDENS 



The decad- 
ence oi 
symmetry. 



"Capability 
Brown." 



Repton. 



bestow immediate termination. His buildings, his seats, 
his temples, were more the works of his pencil than of 
his compass. We owe the restoration of Greece and the 
diffusion of architecture to his skill in landscape." 

In plain words, nothing remained of the old style in 
the new gardens. These latter consisted of smooth 
lawns of grass, diversified by clumps of trees, and inter- 
sected by curved paths or irregular pieces of water. 
Nature was said to abhor a straight line ; hence walks and 
brooks were always laid out in "serpentine meanders." 

Marks of decay are often to be seen in nature ; 
Kent reproduced this effect by planting dead trees and 
stumps. These attempts to make a beautiful wilderness 
often resulted in nothing but a confused mass of dis- 
order, and were received with ridicule even by the 
sentimentalists. 

Among Kent's successors was " Capability " Brown, 
so nicknamed because he invariably discovered that 
every piece of ground had capabilities of being improved 
by his methods. He is said to have had supreme con- 
trol over the art of modern gardening for nearly half 
a century. He and his admirers increased the dimen- 
sions of the naked lawn, multiplied the number of belts 
of trees and shrubbery, but unfortunately destroyed 
many of the beautiful old gardens to make way for their 
improvements. 

The best exponent of the landscape school was 



EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY EXTREMES 259 

Repton. In spite of certain weak points, his book, 
"Observations on Landscape Gardening," 1803, is of 
great assistance. He condemned the prevalent custom 
of substituting everywhere sunken fences or ha-has for 
hedges, and the location of a palace or villa on a field 
of grass, while approving of straight avenues as a means 
of approach to the dwelling and of other similar here- 
sies. Many beautiful estates in England have been 
developed according to his ideas, and bear witness to 
his good taste. 

Intercourse with China strengthened the influence Chinese 

. . . Influence. 

of the naturalistic school, while addmg to its senti- 
mentality. In China the landscape garden had flour- 
ished from 2600 B.C. It was a microcosmus of the 
idealized beauties of the landscape and an arrangement 
of souvenirs collected from all over the country. The 
composition was reduced to a system, where balance 
took the place of symmetry. Mountains, rivers, lakes, 
all the most striking features to be found in the land- 
scape were reproduced on a small scale and given 
appropriate surroundings. It was intended not only 
that the garden should satisfy the sense of beauty, but 
arouse emotions of gaiety, melancholy, or amazement. 
The varying moods of nature were reflected and en- 
hanced by artificial scenic effects, and accented by suit- 
able architectural features. Each season, and even each 
hour of the day, was given a fit accompaniment. 



26o ENGLISH PLEASURE GARDENS 

Acompari- ^j| ^ygj- EuroDC Fcsults similar to those produced hy- 
son between ^ '■ ■' 

Chinese and tlic Chinese wcre aimed at with more or less success. 

English 

gardening. " The English have not yet brought the art of garden- 
ing to the same perfection as the Chinese," remarks 
Oliver Goldsmith, "but have lately begun to imitate 
them ; nature is now followed with greater assiduity 
than formerly ; the trees are suffered to shoot out into 
the utm.ost luxuriance ; the streams, no longer forced 
from their native beds, are permitted to wind along the 
valleys ; the spontaneous flowers take the place of the 
finished parterre and the enamelled meadow of shaven 
green." 

Theim- One of the earliest descriptions of the Chinese style 

perial 

gardens at was a translation of an " Account of the Emperor of 
China's Gardens near Pekin," by the Jesuit father, Pere 
Attiret, which was widely circulated in England. After 
describing the pleasure houses, courts open and close, 
porticoes, hills, valleys, streams, lakes, rivers, and cas- 
cades, "which, when viewed all together, have an admir- 
able effect on the eye," he continues : " They go from 
one valley to another, not by formal straight walks as 
in England, but by various turnings and windings, 
adorned on the sides by little pavilions and charming 
Grottoes; and each of these valleys is diversified from 
all the rest both by their manner of laying out the 
Ground, and in the Structure and Disposition of its 
Buildings. 



Pekin. 



EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY EXTREMES 261 

" All the Risings and Hills are sprinkled with Trees 
and particularly with Flowering Trees which are here 
very common. The sides of the Canals or lesser 
Streams are not faced (as they are with us) with smooth 
stone and in a straight Line ; but look rude and rustic 
with different Pieces of Rock, some of which jut out, 
and others recede inwards ; and are placed with so much 
Art that you would take it to be the work of Nature. 
In some Parts the Water is wide, in others narrow ; 
here it serpentizes and there spreads away, as if it were 
really pushed away by the hills and Rocks. The Banks 
are sprinkled with flowers, which rise up even through 
the Hollows in the Rock work, as if they had been pro- 
duced there naturally. They have a great variety of 
them for every season in the year." 

Another treatise which produced a still more wide- chambers' 

" Disserta- 

spread effect was Sir William Chambers' "Dissertations tionson 
on Oriental Gardening." He advanced the proposition Gardening." 
that the Chinese were not averse to straight lines, and 
fully explained their methods of appealing to the emo- 
tions. His writings are worth quoting more on account 
of their far-reaching influence than as a literal descrip- 
tion of Chinese gardening. In an introduction he 
states that "The Chinese Gardeners take nature for 
their pattern and their aim is to imitate all her beautiful 
irregularities . . . yet they are not so attached to her 
as to exclude all appearance of art. Art must supply 



262 ENGLISH PLEASURE GARDENS 

the scantiness of nature and not only be employed to 
produce variety but also novelty and effect: for the 
simple arrangements of nature are to be met with in 
every common field to a certain degree of perfection, 
and are therefore too familiar to excite any strong sen- 
sations in the mind of the beholder or to produce any 
uncommon degree of pleasure. 

" The Chinese are no enemies of straight lines, be- 
cause they are productive of grandeur, which often 
cannot be obtained without them : nor have they an 
aversion to regular geometric figures which they say 
are beautiful in themselves, and well suited to small 
compositions, where the luxuriant irregularities of nature 
would fill up and embarrass the parts they should adorn. 
They likewise think them properest to flower gardens 
and all other compositions where much art is apparent 
in the culture, and where it should therefore not be 
omitted in forms. 

" Their regular buildings they generally surround with 
artificial terraces, slopes, and many flights of steps, the 
angles of which are adorned with groups of sculpture 
and vases intermingled with all sorts of artificial water- 
works, which, connecting with the architecture, spread 
the composition, serve to give it consequence and add 
to the gaiety, splendour, and bustle of the scenery. 

" Round the main habitation, and near all the deco- 
rated structures the grounds are laid out with great 



EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY EXTREMES 263 

regularity and kept up with great care : no plants are 
admitted that intercept the view of the buildings, nor 
any lines but such as accompany the architecture 
properly, and contribute to the general symmetry and 
good effect of the whole composition, for they hold it 
absurd to surround an elegant fabric with disorderly 
rude vegetation, saying it looks like a diamond set in 
lead, and always conveys the idea of an unfinished 
work. When the buildings are rustic the scenery 
which surrounds them is wild, when they are grand it 
is gloomy, when gay it is luxuriant: in short the 
Chinese are scrupulously nice in preserving the same 
character through every part of the composition ; which 
is one great reason of that surprising variety with which 
their works abound. 

"In their large gardens they contrive different scenes 
for different times of the day, disposing at the points 
of view, buildings which from their use point out the 
proper hour for enjoying the view in its perfections; 
and in their small ones, where, as has been observed, 
one arrangement produces many representations, they 
make use of the same artifice. They have beside 
scenes for every season of the year: some for winter 
generally exposed to the southern sun and composed 
of pines, firs, cedars, evergreen oaks, phyllyrea, hollies, 
yews, junipers, and many other evergreens, being en- 
riched with laurels of various sorts, laurestinas, arbutus, 



264 ENGLISH PLEASURE GARDENS 

and other such plants and vegetables as grow or flourish 
in cold weather : and to give variety and gaiety to these 
gloomy productions, they plant amongst them in regu- 
lar forms, divided by walks, all the rare shrubs, flowers, 
and trees of the torrid zone, which they cover during 
the winter with frames of glass disposed in the form of 
temples or other elegant buildings. These they call 
conservatories : they are warmed by subterraneous fires 
and afford a comfortable and agreeable retreat when 
the weather is too cold to walk in the open air. All 
sorts of melodious birds are let loose within, and they 
keep there in large porcelain cisterns placed on rocks 
gold and silver fishes with various kinds of water lilies, 
they also raise in them a variety of fruit." Other build- 
ings which could be used in winter were menageries, 
aviaries, decorated dairies and buildings for various 
games, besides large enclosures in the woods provided 
for military sports, riding, and archery. 

For summer there were all sorts of pavilions provided, 
some of them built in the trees, others in the form of 
Persian tents or in various fantastic shapes. On the 
grounds of one of the imperial palaces there were four 
hundred pavilions each in a different style. One cost 
two hundred thousand pounds and consisted of a hundred 
rooms. Perhaps. Marie Antoinette got the idea of her 
miniature village at the Petit Trianon from this same 
garden, where there was a fortified town with everything 



EIGHTEENTH-.CENTURY EXTREMES 265 

noteworthy at Pekin on a small scale. In this mimic 
town the emperors, too much the slaves of their great- 
ness to appear in public, were diverted several times in 
the year by the eunuchs of the palace, who personated 
merchants, shopkeepers, artisans, and even thieves and 
pickpockets. On the appointed day each put on the 
habit of his profession; the ships arrived at the port, 
the shops were opened, etc., and the business of life was 
carried on as if this were a real town. 

For autumn there were plantations of oak, beech, and 
other deciduous trees whose leaves turn to brilliant 
colours as winter approaches. Amidst these were planted 
evergreens and fruit trees, where the few flowers which 
blossom late in the year grew beside "decayed trees and 
dead stumps of picturesque forms overspread with moss 
and ivy." 

The buildings with which these scenes were decorated 
were such as indicated decay, being intended as me- 
mentos of death to the passer-by. Some were hermit- 
ages and almshouses, where the faithful old servants of 
the family spent the remainder of their lives in peace 
amidst the tombs of their predecessors. Then there 
were various sorts of ruins : half buried triumphal arches 
and mausoleums with mutilated inscriptions, that once 
commemorated the heroes of ancient times ; sepul- 
chres, catacombs, and cemeteries for favourite domestic 
animals ; or whatever else might serve to indicate the 



266 ENGLISH PLEASURE GARDENS 

debility, the disappointments, and the dissolution of hu- 
manity, which, by cooperating with the dreary aspect of 
autumnal nature and the temperature of the air, filled 
the mind with melancholy and inclined it to serious 
reflections. 

As the aim of the Chinese in their gardens was said 
to be not only to please but to terrify or surprise the 
spectator, they were accredited with almost inconceivable 
devices intended to produce these effects. For instance. 
Sir William Chambers describes scenes of terror in 
gloomy woods, or dark caverns where everything had 
been blighted or devastated. Bats, owls, vultures, and 
other birds of prey dwelt in these groves ; wolves, tigers, 
and jackals howled in the forests ; while half-famished 
animals wandered over the plains where gibbets, crosses, 
wheels, and every instrument of torture were visible from 
the thoroughfare. The surprises he describes are even 
more incredible. 

To us it does not seem strange that some people 
doubted the accuracy of these descriptions, although Sir 
William declares in the second edition of his book that 
it was all the exact truth. At any rate many writers 
followed his suggestions in their theories, and many 
garden makers put them into practice. 

The emotional or sentimental garden found a prac- 
tical exponent in William Shenstone. He wrote some 
" Unconnected Thoughts on Gardening," in which he 



EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY EXTREMES 



267 



improved on the Chinese theory, saying that "objects 
should be less calculated to strike the immediate eye 
than the judgment or well-informed imagination as in 
pamting," and he believed that the "sublime had gener- 
ally a deeper effect than the merely beautiful," while he 
considered that "every scene we see in nature is either 
tame or insipid." 

Shenstone's " Sentimental Farm " at Leasowes, in 
Shropshire, was much admired. It was calculated to 
arouse the emotions by means of urns, trophies, weeping- 
willows, inscriptions, dragons and serpents in hideous 
attitudes, and other symbols in harmony with the grand, 
savage, melancholy, horrid, or beautiful character of the 
landscape. 

Melancholy seems to have 
been a favourite emotion 
most appropriately inspired 
by placing funereal monu- 
ments in the garden. The 
grave of Pope's mother, for 
instance, was a feature in 
his pleasure ground, ap- 
proached by a solemn ave- 
nue of cypress trees, while 
Byron's favourite dog was buried under a conspicuous 
monument in the garden at Newstead. 

Interesting examples of the landscape and of the 




Cultivation 
of melan- 
choly. 



268 



ENGLISH PLEASURE GARDENS 



Kent's pro- 
dactions. 



Brown's 
construction 
and de- 
structioa. 



sentimental styles, designed by Kent, Brown, Repton, 
Chambers, and their disciples, can be readily recalled as 
still existing. Perhaps time and neglect have added to 
their charm ; at any rate some of these pleasure gardens 
have a restful beauty not to be despised. 

Kent designed, among other gardens, those at Stowe, 
Gunnersbury, and Rousham. The number of temples 
at Stowe has excited ridicule, but it must be remem- 
bered that some of these were added by Sir John Van- 
brugh. At Gunnersbury Kent's achievements are seen 
to great advantage. The stately effect of the classic 
temple overshadowed by ancient cedars and the Gothic 
tower above the placid lake, in contrast to the neigh- 
bouring woodland, was pro- 
duced by an expert in the 
combination of the roman- 
tic with the picturesque. 

The charming temples in 
the Royal Botanical Gar- 
dens at Kew were many 
of them designed by Sir 
William Chambers. Those 
shown in the accompany- 
ing illustrations are known as the temples of the Sun 
and of yEolus, beside two smaller classic pavilions. 

Brown is responsible for the gardens at Blenheim, 
Nuneham, Trentham, Burghley, and other pretentious 







TEn?LE OF THE SUN. KEW 




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Gardens, Gunnersbury. 



EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY EXTREMES 269 

places. His treatment of water was often delightful, as 
is shown in the lily pond at Castle Ashby. Unfortu- 
nately his first step was often to undo the work of his 
predecessors, until he has come to be considered less of 
a creator than a destroyer of gardens. 

In Repton's various publications his methods are fully Repton's 

1*1 work. 

described and illustrated with pictures, showing how the 
landscape would appear before and after his alterations. 
The present gardens at Ashridge remain much as he 
laid them out, and were perhaps his favourite design. 
No less than fifteen different kinds of gardens were 
proposed in his map, and most of them were afterward 
constructed. Two of the prettiest are enclosures called 
the Rosary and the Monks' Garden, both formal in their 
arrangement. At Beaudesart he restored an old gar- 
den that it might be in keeping with the Tudor man- 
sion, and everywhere he showed a respect for the past 
surprisingly in contrast to Brown's iconoclastic methods. 
In speaking of temples he mentions the temple at Tivoli 
as the perfection of its type. This is shown in the 
illustration at the beginning of this chapter, drawn from 
a painting by Claude Lorraine. 

The French were quick to adopt the English style. French 
It was heralded by philosophers such as Rousseau, who, the English 
as Taine said, " made the dawn visible to people who 
had never risen till noon, the landscape to eyes that had 
only rested hitherto upon drawing-rooms and palaces. 



2/0 



ENGLISH PLF:ASURE GARDENS 



Belceil and 
the Prince 
de Ligne. 



Ermenon- 
ville. 



the natural garden to men who had only walked between 
tonsured yews and rectilinear flower-borders." It was 
praised by the poets and exemplified by many owners 
of fine estates. The Abbe de Lille (entitled " le nou- 
veau Dieu des Jardins " by the Prince de Ligne), whose 
book called " Les Jardins " went through twenty edi- 
tions, is loud in admiration of the pictorial side : — 

" Moins pompeux qu'61egant moins decore que beau 
Un jardin a mes yeux est un vaste tableau. 
Les arbres, les rochers, at les eaux et les fleurs 
Ce sont la vos pinceaux, vos toiles, vos couleurs." 

The Prince de Ligne, who wrote an essay called the 
" Coup d'oeil sur les jardins," laid out his estate at 
Belceil in a style " tout a la fois magnifique et champetre." 
His taste was for moderation ; he preserved the gardens 
of the old school designed for his father, while adding 
pleasure grounds comprising all that was best in the 
English fashion. He visited many of the gardens in 
England, and showed his discrimination by objecting to 
the temple mania at Stowe and to the cheap manufac- 
ture of classic ruins and Gothic architecture, "apparently 
inspired," he says, " by the delirium of a nightmare." 

At Ermenonville the Marquis de Girardin laid out 
some gardens in the height of the new style, which 
attracted much attention. One of his treasures on a 
little island was Rousseau's grave. It was overshadowed 
by tall poplars and marked by a monument of antique 



EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY EXTREMES 271 

design ornamented with bas-reliefs and two inscriptions : 
" Ici repose I'homme de la iiature et de la verite " and 
" Vitam impendere veroJ' Another tomb, not far away, 
was that of an unknown young man, who was, fortu- 
nately for the marquis, inspired by Rousseau to commit 
suicide on the island, and thus add to the melancholy 
interest of this retired spot. " On decouvre dans une 
partie touffue et sauvage du bois, une petite tombe 
simple et negligee, mais remarquable pour le triste anec- 
dote qui y a donne lieu. Un jeune homme, dont on n'a 
jamais su le nom ni I'histoire, se tua en ce lieu il y a 
quelques annees et pria, par un ecrit qu'il laissa, M. de 
Girardin de Ty faire enterrer. II parut qu'une partie de 
ces chagrins venait d'une passion malheureuse, et que la 
lecture des ouvrages de J.-J. I'avait depuis longtemps 
decide a finir ainsi ses malheurs, aupres de celui qui 
lui en inspirait le triste courage. Quelques jours apres 
sa mort une jeune femme vint pleurer pres de ce monu- 
ment et y ecrire des vers qui firent juger qu'elle meme 
etait la cause du desespoir de I'inconnu." 

Besides the temple of philosophy, there was a pyramid 
dedicated to the same study and inscribed with the 
names of the "quatre chantres de la campagne," The- 
ocritus, Virgil, Gessner, and St. Lambert. A grove, 
impenetrable to the sunlight, sheltering a limpid stream, 
a Gothic tower, a mill recalling the picturesque loveli- 
ness of Italy, and a dreary desert containing a simple 



272 ENGLISH PLEASURE GARDENS 

hut where, in surroundings as " sauvage " as himself, 
Rousseau had been accustomed to compose his writings, 
were features much admired. 

Other aspects of Ermenonville were described by the 
EngHsh traveller Arthur Young. " Reach Ermenonville, 
through another part of the Prince of Conde's forest, 
which joins the ornamented grounds of the Marquis 
Girardon. This place, after the residence and death of 
the persecuted, but immortal, Rousseau, whose tomb 
every one knows is here, became so famous as to be 
resorted to very generally. It has been described, and 
plates published of the chief views; to enter into a par- 
ticular description would therefore be tiresome. I shall 
only make one or two observations, which I do not 
recollect having been touched on by others. It consists 
of three distinct water scenes ; or of two lakes and a 
river. We were first shown that which is so famous for 
the small Isle of Poplars, in w^hich reposes all that was 
mortal of that extraordinary and inimitable writer. This 
scene is as well imagined and as well executed as could 
be wished. The water is between forty and fifty acres ; 
hills rise from it on both sides, and it is sufficiently 
closed in by tall wood at both ends to render it seques- 
tered. The remains of departed genius stamp a melan- 
choly idea, from which decoration would depart too 
much, and accordingly there is little. We viewed the 
scene in a still evening. The declining sun threw a 



EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY EXTREMES 273 

lengthened shade on the lake, and silence seemed to 
repose on its unruffled bosom. . . . The worthies to 
whom the temple of philosophers is dedicated and whose 
names are marked on the columns, are Newton, Lucem. 

— Descartes, Nil m rebus inane. — Voltaire, Ridiculum. 

— Rousseau, Naturam. — And on another unfinished 
column, Quis hoc perficiet? The other lake is larger; 
it nearly fills the bottom of the vale, around which are 
some rough, rocky, wild, and barren sand-hills, either 
broken or spread with heath ; in some places wooded 
and in others thinly scattered with junipers. The char- 
acter of the scene is that of wild and undecorated nature, 
in which the hand of art was meant to be concealed as 
much as was consistent with ease of access." 

A morbid fondness for funereal monuments was shown Fondness 

^ , -^ 1 • T- 1 1 ^"'^ funereal 

even more frequently m France than m England. The monuments, 
sentimental garden without a grave could never hope to 
arouse a powerful sensation of agreeable melancholy. 
Girardin's possession of Rousseau's remains made him 
the object of much envy. Coligny's grave added to the 
charms of Maupertin, but at Mereville there was only an 
empty cenotaph to Captain Cook. This memorial, a 
blue marble column ornamented with rostra and sur- 
rounded by weeping willows and other foreign trees, was 
on the middle of an island. The pedestal was decorated 
with bas-reliefs of savages, urns, and other mournful 
trophies. At Morfontaine a black marble monument, 



274 



ENGLISH PLEASURE GARDENS 



Carmon- 
telle's 
theatric 
theory. 



Rusticity. 



erected apparently in memory of no one in particular, 
was placed in the midst of a gloomy grove, and served 
to enhance its sad and solitary appearance ; while Comte 
d'Artois had to satisfy himself at Bagatelle with the 
disused tomb of one of the Pharaohs. Further evidence 
of this funereal taste was seen at Le Plessis, Chamant, 
and other gardens of this period. 

Carmontelle, a garden architect and historian, had a 
good deal of influence in forming the French taste of his 
day. His theory was that, as French customs, tastes, and 
climate differed from the English, their gardens should 
not be a servile imitation of those across the Channel, 
but should be composed with regard to these differences. 
The French were a theatric nation, their gardens should 
be made "pays d'illusions," where the change of scene 
should resemble that on the stage. They should not be 

wholly occupied with repre- 
senting the "vie purement 
champetre," since the actual 
peasantry did not comprise 
such types as were painted 
by Boucher or Fontenelle or 
appeared among the singers 
at the opera. 

Rusticity found its expo- 
nents at the Pare Monceau and at Chantilly. Here were 
rural hamlets, including barns, dairies, mills, inns, and 








l.-'E^fe,:^\ ^/ 



GOTHIC DAIRY.HODDESDON 



EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY EXTREMES 275 

bakeries. One of the barns, however, contained a superb 
salon, decorated in the most elaborate way, where a ball 
was given in honour of the king and queen. These 
miniature villages are said to have inspired Marie An 
toinette with a desire for the farm at the Little Trianon. 

Etiquette was so burdensome at the French court 
that the pleasure-loving queen had to create a spot 
where she could lay it aside. Apparently she was suc- 
cessful, for the Prince de Ligne wrote of the Little 
Trianon, " Here truly one may breathe the air of happi- 
ness and liberty. One might believe oneself a hundred 
leagues from the court." 

The Eno;lish Garden at the Petit Trianon was The Petit 

. . . , . . Trianon. 

planned, directly under Marie Antoinette's supervision, 
by the Comte de Caraman and carried out by her gar- 
dener, Richard, who had visited England. The latter 
was succeeded by his son, a celebrated horticulturist. 
Near the chateau were the more formal grounds, con- 
taining the pagoda, grotto, and belvedere. A hamlet, 
inspired by that of the Prince de Conde, at Chantilly, 
was added to the original plan in 1783. It consisted 
of two groups of buildings: the first comprising the 
queen's cottage and a mill connected with a billiard- 
room; the second, a gardener's lodge, poultry-house, 
tower, dairy, and farmhouse, with its dependencies. 
Here the queen could play the milkmaid or the 
shepherdess and indulge in all her frivolous whims. 



276 



ENGLISH PLEASURE GARDENS 



The German 

landscape 

school. 



English 
gardens in 
Russia. 



In Germany the landscape school was upheld by 
Kant, who classed gardening under the head of paint- 
ing, saying: " It is nothing else but the decoration of 
the ground with the same variety (grasses, flowers, 
bushes, and trees, even waters, hills, and valleys) as 
nature presents to the sight, only in different combi- 
nations and according to certain ideas. But the beau- 
tiful juxtaposition of material things is only presented 
to the eyes as in painting." 

All over Germany and Austria gardens were laid 
out in the Eno^lish fashion. At Sans Souci Frederick 
the Great began some gardens in this style, which were 
finished by Frederick William III. There were "Eng- 
lischer Garten " at Hanover, at Woerlich in Anhalt- 
Dessau, at Nymphenburg in Bavaria, at Wilhelmshohe 
near Cassel, at Potsdam, at Weimar, and at various 
places in Austria. These had the usual funereal 
monuments, classic temples, Chinese pagodas, and 
artificial ruins. 

Even in Russia there was an English garden in 
the imperial park of Tsarkoe-Selo, which was begun by 
the Empress Elizabeth and completed by Catherine II. 
Here the inscriptions, temples, and votive offerings 
were so numerous that M. Xavier Marmier remarks, 
*' If the austere divinities and the nymphs of the wood 
and water in that northern region are not satisfied 
with the ornamentations in their honour, they must 
be pretty hard to please." 



EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY EXTREMES 



277 



Everywhere, in fact, the manufacture of the beauties The craze 

for infor- 

of nature, of sham temples, artificial ruins, and orna- maiity. 
mental farms was wholesale. To be in keeping with 
the landscape, ladies masqueraded as goddesses or milk- 
maids, according to whether they graced a classic or 
a rustic scene. Simplicity was a pose, while nature 
was a mass of deceitful illusions. At the close of the 
century, as Mr. Sedding remarks, " formality gone mad 
was supplanted by informality gone equally mad." 





GARDEN-HOUSE AND WALL-THL ORCHARJ^ ^ 



CHAPTER X 



A classifica- 
tion. 



Naturalistic 
gardens. 




taining 



MODERN GARDENS 

LL sorts of gardens exist in Eng- 
land to-day. To classify them is 
almost impossible, but broadly they 
may still be separated into two 
divisions — the naturalistic and the 
formal. Each is an evolution con- 
motives derived from the different styles 
described in the preceding chapters, with the addition 
of certain novel features bringing the garden up to 
date. These additions are, however, adaptations rather 
than original creations in their design. 

Under the head of naturalistic might be men- 
tioned the many so-called wild, Alpine, rock, bog, water, 
and subtropical gardens, if the latter name can be 
applied to a plantation unconfined by apparent bound- 
aries. This style is usually adopted also for botanical 
The object in all these plantations is to 
278 



gardens. 




< 



MODERN GARDENS 



279 




POORWAY :SHRUBLANDS 



naturalize exotics in places where they will take care 
of themselves and gradually grow wild. This practice 
results from a reaction against 
the troublesome and expensive 
custom of bedding out green- 
house plants to the exclusion 
of the hardy old-fashioned an- 
nuals and perennials. The 
art of the naturalistic garden 
is an attempt to conceal art 
and to give nature free play. 
The wild garden owes much 
to its able advocate, Mr. W. 
Robinson, who is singularly in touch with many 
phases of nature and has vigorously protested against 
bedding out and all elaborate mosaic culture. He says The wild 

garden. 

that what he terms the wild garden has no connec- 
tion with the wilderness, though it may happen to be 
carried out there ; and that it does not necessarily mean 
the picturesque garden, for picturesqueness may exist 
on a cultivated plot of ground. The main object is to 
make the plantation look natural and at the same time 
to group the plants gracefully. Unfortunately, this 
is by no means easy, especially for gardeners who 
have seen nothing outside England. Their conception 
of an Alpine garden is about as incongruous with the 
given surroundings as would be an English park on 



28o ENGLISH PLEASURE GARDENS 

the top of Mont Blanc. The most successful wild gar- 
dens are those where a demand for exotics is ignored 
and only English plants are assisted to fulfil a natural 
bent. 
Alpine and Alpine and rock gardens are substantially one and 
gardens. the samc thing. These are adapted to a rocky country 
where by rights they seem to belong. Artificial rock- 
work constructed in places where there are no natural 
cliffs or boulders has seldom a pleasing appearance. 
The result when these gardens are carried out on an 
extensive scale, as in the large grounds at Batsford 
Park, may be very charming, but the effect when they 
are crowded into a small space and almost crushed 
under the walls of a suburban mansion is pitiful if not 
grotesque. A great variety of Alpine plants are suc- 
cessfully grown in England ; among them rockfoil, 
sun roses, maiden pink, soapwort, Alpine linaria, Alpine 
aster, rock speedwell, erinus silene, violets, arabis, 
gentians, primula, and even the rare edelweiss. 
The bog A bog garden, it need hardly be explained, is a bog 

where plants, usually exotics, adapted to moist soil are 
encouraged to thrive. Where there is no natural bog 
available, an artificial one is constructed as described 
at length by Mr. Robinson in the " English Flower 
Garden." There was an artificial bog at Oxford in the 
seventeenth century containing about sixteen hundred 
species and varieties of plants. Among those now 



garden. 



MODERN GARDENS 281 

considered best adapted for the purpose are trilliums, 
iris k^mpferi, cipripediums, primula japonica, primula 
sikkifnensis, marsh marigolds, etc. 

The water garden, equally of course, consists of The water 
plantations of flowers growing in or beside streams and 
ponds. Of water-plants, varieties of the nymphea or 
water-lily, are most effective. The lotus is very beauti- 
ful but less easy to supply with right conditions. Where 
it is possible to combine groups of water-plants with 
those thriving by the waterside and those requiring only 
moist ground, the result may prove delightful. A good 
example is to be seen at Great Tangley Manor, near 
Guilford. 

Another form of wild garden contains only subtropi- Thesub- 
cal plants. The bamboo, first discovered to be hardy by g^^den. 
Lord de Saumarez at Shrublands, the yucca, tamarix 
acanthus, and certain palms can be cultivated even in 
the more northern English counties, while in parts of 
Cornwall, camellias, and other plants of an almost tropi- 
cal appearance, flourish in the open air. 

Botanists in general seem to prefer the naturalistic 
method. The best part of the important botanical col- 
lections at Kew is thus treated, as are most of the smaller 
English botanical collections. 

On the other hand, advocates of the formal garden Advocates 
are constantly becoming more numerous. One of the tionl°h:y° 
first was T. James, who, as early as 1839, had the courage 



282 



ENGLISH PLEASURE GARDENS 



Morris's 
opinion. 



The theory 
of modem 
garden 
architects. 



to decry the natural or English style, which had devel- 
oped into scores of unmeaning flower-beds disfiguring 
the lawn in the shapes of kidneys, tadpoles, sausages, 
leeches, and commas. James says: " If I am to have a 
system at all, give me the good old system of terraces 
and angled walks and dipt yew edges, against whose 
dark and rich verdure the bright old-fashioned flowers 
glittered in the sun. I love the topiary art with its open 
avowal of its artificial character. It repudiates at the 
first glance the skulking and cowardly 'celai'e artem'' 
principle, and in its vegetable sculpture is the properest 
transition from the architecture of the house to the 
natural beauties of the grove and paddock." 

William Morris also championed the formal garden 
and declared that it should be contained in a definite 
enclosure. " Large and small, the garden should look 
both orderly and rich. It should be fenced from the 
outer world. It should by no means imitate the wilful- 
ness or wildness of nature, but should look like a thing 
never seen except near a house." 

Several modern garden architects — notably Messrs. 
John Sedding, T. W. Mawson, R. Blomfield, and 
F. Inigo Thomas — have published their ideas as to 
how a garden can be brought to perfection, and have 
also put their theories into practice. According to a 
consensus of opinion the essentials of their system are 
balance if not symmetry of design ; an outer enclosure 




Modern Garden, Newstead Abbev, 




.// 






:wL4 



u to 







m 
m m 

u 



X. 



MODERN GARDENS 283 

providing seclusion for people, and protection, besides a 
background, for flowers; clearly defined divisions and 
subdivisions and ornamental features to accent various 
centres of interest. Differences of level in the differ- 
ent sections are added, when possible, to avoid further 
danger of stiffness or monotony. 

Next the house, when its site is on a slope, a terrace The terrace 

walk. 

is considered desirable. Sometimes it may be treated 
merely as a walk. In this case the surface is planted 
entirely with grass, or with alternate strips of grass and 
gravel as at Battle Abbey ; or with a pavement of tiles, 
of brick, or of stone flags as at Annesley. Clipped trees 
or borders of herbaceous plants are often added as 
ornaments. 

Sometimes the terrace is large enough to contain a The ten-ace 

with a 

parterre of flowers, as at Shrubland Park, Harewood parterre, 
or Wollaton Hall. The parterre must then receive 
a treatment corresponding in style to that of the adja- 
cent house. The scale of the beds and their ornamen- 
tation must harmonize to a certain extent with that of 
the building, and both it and the parterre should be on 
the same axis. 

A terrace is occasionally abutted by a bank of grass. Terrace 

architec- 

but preferably by a stone retaining wall. Where there ture. 
is but a slight drop — not more than three feet — from 
the level of the terrace to that of the ground below, the 
top of the retaining wall need not rise above the surface 



284 



ENGLISH PLEASURE GARDENS 



steps. 



Topiary 
work. 



of the terrace. If there is a greater descent, the terrace 
is bounded by a parapet, consisting of a continuation of 
the wall, a balustrading of stone or wood, or pierced 
stone or terra-cotta panels. Good examples of stone 
balustrades have been shown in the illustrations of 
Haddon, St. Catherine's Court, Brympton, Montacute, 
and Annesley ; of pierced stone panels at the Hall 
Bradford-on-Avon and at Clayerton Manor; of terra- 
cotta panels or balustrades at Hatfield. 

It will be seen in all these examples that the character 
of the architecture placed on the terrace conforms with 

that of the overshadow- 
The ar- 



ing building. 







!r4 



;/,' 



.'/ ///.' 



■■■-■J 



mm 



rangement of the steps 
plays an important part 
in the design. 

To announce the ap- 
proach to an entrance, 
to accent some especial 
form, or to break the 
monotony of a long 
stretch of wall, clipped trees and shrubs are often set 
out. The best evergreens for this purpose are the com- 
mon Irish yew and its golden variety /axus hiber- 
nica aurea. Cypress and juniper can also be kept in 
good shape, and holly is easily preserved in pyramidal 
form. For elaborate topiary work the common yew 



TOPIAKY WORK : MLT-BOURNE 



MODERN GARDENS 285 

and tree box are best. Yew is adapted to objects of 
large size, as is evident from the examples at Levens and 
Elvaston. Box is used for miniature designs. The 
curious Dutch specimens of topiary work at Ascott are 
clipped from dwarf box trees. 

For cultivation in wooden cases, tubs, or large Potted 

shrubs and 

flower-pots, Portugal laurel, sweet bays, orange trees, plants, 
and lemon verbena are frequently used. Where the 
space for planting is limited, these are important 
accessories. 

The beauty of the parterre must of course largely Garden 
depend upon its wealth of flowers. For producing 
masses of colour perhaps the finest perennials are iris, 
peonies, roses, lilies, phlox, larkspur. Oriental poppies, 
helianthus, dahlias, carnations, and gladioli. Among 
the most effective annuals and biennials are colum- 
bine, campanula, poppies, asters, African marigolds, corn- 
flowers, sweet-william, snapdragon, wallflowers, pinks, 
pyrethrum, pentstemon, and hollyhocks. For fragrance, 
lavender, mignonette, alyssum, nicotiana, and thyme are 
much cultivated. There are besides many tender or 
half-hardy plants which must be partly raised in a green- 
house and can be bedded out only in summer. 

A few flowering shrubs may be admitted to the gar- Flowering 

shrubs and 

den. Sweet almond, pirus japomca, azaleas, and rhodo- vines, 
dendrons are usually placed in the border, as they take 
up too much room in the flower-beds. Clematis, honey- 



286 



ENGLISH PLEASURE GARDENS 



No impor- 
tant innova- 
tions. 



The mate- 
rial of 
hedges. 



Archways. 



suckle, ivy, jasmine, and climbing roses are used to cover 
arbours and form festoons and garlands. 

No novelties worthy of especial mention have been 
added to the architectural or sculptural ornamentation 
of the parterre. Classic statuary and classic or Renais- 
sance designs for fountains are better models than any 
recently erected, while Elizabethan or Jacobean archi- 
tectural features are superior to those evolved nowa- 
days. It is strange how seldom a new and satisfactory 
note is struck in any of these directions. 

The boundary, when not formed by a wall, usually 
consists of a hedge. The best and most durable of 
these barriers are constructed from evergreen holly, 
yew, tree box, or cotoneaster, and from deciduous 
trees and shrubs, like privet, sweetbrier, beech, horn- 
beam, thorn, and mirobella plum. To give the garden 
hedge a more ornamental appearance than if it enclosed 
a field or meadow, standard trees are sometimes intro- 
duced at regular intervals and allowed to rise above the 
rest with their tops clipped in balls or pyramids. In 
other cases the summit of the hedge is clipped in the 
shape of battlements as at Old Place and Holme Lacey, 
or surmounted by quaint figures as at Sudeley Castle 
near Cheltenham and at Brome Hall in Norfolk. 

The prettiest openings through the hedge are made 
in the form of arches sometimes fianked by pilasters and 
overtopped by balls, obelisks, or a pointed pediment. 



i 


■ 


-1 /^^ 


^S 








^ 





Fountain, The Orchards. 




Park, Newstead Abbey. 



MODERN GARDENS 



287 



mmo- 
dation for 






A variety of the best examples are to be seen at Brock 
enhurst. 

Tennis-courts, croquet-grounds, and bowling-greens acco: 
are provided in connection with almost every modern games 
garden, laid out within easy 
reach of the house. In plan- 
ning these, seats are usually 
placed in positions convenient 
for watching the progress of 
the game. On a croquet- 
ground or bowling-green the 
best vantage point is above 
the goal, on a tennis-court 
beside the division line formed 
by the net. 




•■( i///l''iif, ;/ 









\.^t\UI///iJV 



TOPIA».V WORK-. BROCKEM HURST 



The proper dimensions for a tennis-court are seventy- The tennia- 
eight by thirty-six feet for the actual divisions marked 
out, and a margin of twenty feet on the ends and five 
on the sides. Dirt courts are easier to keep in order, 
but grassed ones are more attractive looking and pre- 
ferred by many players. The ends of the margin are 
usually oval and protected by back-nets. 

About the same area must be allowed for a croquet- xhecroquet- 

... . ground. 

ground, though its size is more variable; the surface, it 
need hardly be said, is always planted with grass. 

Bowling-greens vary greatly in their proportions. Bowling- 
Forty yards square is supposed to be the regulation 



288 



ENGLISH PLEASURE GARDENS 



Modern 
style. 




size, but they are often much narrower. The green is 

usually enclosed by a wall or hedge, or sunken below 
the level of the lawn. Many new 
bowling-greens are being constructed, 
as bowling has lately begun to return 
into fashion. 

As to style, modern taste is eclectic ; 
it would be difficult to say whether the 
most inspiration has been recently 
derived from mediaeval, Elizabethan, 
Italian, Dutch, or French authorities. 
Many modern instances contain selec- 
tions from each, but unfortunately few 

of the former are really representative of the present cen- 
tury, or a fine expression of characteristic English taste. 
In some of the best modern English gardens there is 

a combination of classic statuary, 

Renaissance fountains, French 

perspectives, Dutch topiary work, 

and flowers from all over the 

world. But in such a orarden, 

when there is breadth given to 

the masses of colour and a proper 

regard to scale and proportion, the 

effect is not always incongruous. 

Among the gardens where originality has been 

shown in the rearrangement of quaint old features, that 






Fountains at Brockenhurst and Ascott. 



MODERN GARDENS 289 

at Old Place, Lingfield, is an interesting example. It owpiace, 

Lingfield. 

is not exactly a Tudor garden, though in perfect har- 
mony with a well-restored Tudor manor-house. The 
most conspicuous ornament of the pleasaunce is the 
curious sun-dial shown in the illustration, — a high col- 
umn surmounted by a square block, on top of which a 
pelican is feeding its young. The various parts of the 
garden are well distributed in relation to the house, 
and skilfully accented by topiary work and appropriate 
architecture. 

The Elizabethan style has been frequently repro- Elizabethan 

reproduc- 

duced, as in the gardens at Arley, at Camprey Ash tions. 
and Muntham. In many ways it is most in accord- 
ance with modern taste and worthy of imitation. 

The gardens at Brockenhurst are beautiful examples Brocken- 

hurst. 

showing French influence. Nothmg better can be 
imagined than the treatment there of yew and holly 
hedges, serving to enclose the gardens and to form a 
background for the statuary and fountains. The green 
courts are independent of flowers for their beauty, which 
is retained throughout the year. One of these courts is 
intended to serve for a bowling-green ; here a curious 
seat is placed at the base of a flowering tree. Several 
pictures are included to furnish an idea of the good taste 
evinced in the design of the archways and the position 
and proportions of the alleys, statuary, and fountains. 
At Sedgwick Park, near Horsham, is a charming 



290 



ENGLISH PLEASURE GARDENS 



Sedgwick 
Park. 



Barrow 
Court. 



mW^^-x 




■pONP IN NORTH GARDEN --BAKKOW COURT 



garden showing considerable originality. Its maker 
had travelled widely and found inspiration in many 
French and Italian gardens, but the features she bor- 
rowed from them were adapted in such a way as to 
give her garden a distinctive character. A pretty and 
unusual enclosure contains an oblong tank of water, 
so arranged that it can be used for a swimming-pool. 
Beside the water is an alcove in the wall retaining 
the terrace above, which forms a pleasant substitute 
for a grotto. 

Some interesting gardens have been rearranged and 
supplemented by others, under the direction of Mr. F. 

Inigo Thomas, at 
Barrow Court. The 
alterations and addi- 
tions were executed 
about the year 1892. 
Originally beside the 
old house there was 
a terrace, and beneath 
it a formal garden surrounded by yew hedges and 
enclosing a pond : these were slightly modified by Mr. 
Thomas. 

The new work was accomplished in the park beyond 
the first garden. A wide strip of ground running east 
and west was levelled, leaving a high bank below the 
flower-garden with a drop of some six feet into the 



MODERN GARDENS 



291 




GATE-WAY Si- TERRACE :B^BROW CT 



park, and was walled and balustraded with stone. This 
excavation formed a terrace at the northern edge of 
the flower-garden. At each 
end were erected "sun- 
traps," walled enclosures dif- 
fering in detail and decked 
out with a cloister and 
seats for garden tea. One 
of these smaller pavilions is 
shown in the illustration. 

The arrangement of the tennis lawns is especially 
striking. They are divided from the park by a tall 
iron fence, supported at intervals by terminal figures 
rising from a semicircular bastion. 
In the centre are wrought-iron 
gates, with piers and vases flanked 
on either hand by winged lions. 
The terminal figures are twelve in 
number and represent the months 
of the year, beginning with a child 
for January and moving round with 
the sun through advancing stages to an old woman 
for December. 

Groves, cricket-grounds, etc., have been planned to 
occupy a space beyond the boundary walls, but have 




not as yet been carried out. 
would repay careful study. 



The whole scheme 



292 



ENGLISH PLEASURE GARDENS 



The 
Orchards. 



Miss 

Jekyll's 

garden. 



Requisites 
for all 
garden- 
making. 



One of the best of the more simply planned gardens 
is at the Orchards, near Godalming. The fountain, in 
the centre of the main garden, surrounded by festoons 
of roses, is good and original in design. Upright posts 
supporting chains for other garlands add to the composi- 
tion by furnishing vertical lines, in contrast to the long 
horizontal contours of the low-lying hills, seen above the 
wall in the distance. 

Miss Jekyll's garden, also near Godalming, contains 
the elements of both naturalistic and conventional 

gardens. The arrangement is 
very simple, and largely de- 
pends for its beauty upon vari- 
ous delio^htful colour schemes. 






'^} 







•V 



GARDEN-HOUSE rCASTLE ASHBY 



It is seldom that both wild and 
cultivated flowers have been 
grouped more successfully. 

It is impossible to attempt 
to enumerate all the beauti- 
ful gardens in various styles, which have been laid out 
during the last few years. From the largest to the 
smallest, from the stiffest to the most unconventional, 
they go to prove that, just as there are beautiful shades 
of every colour, so any kind of garden may be made 
beautiful if its construction displays a knowledge of the 
principles underlying its particular fashion and if it is 
tended by loving hands. No wild garden can be made 



s THE PARTERIFiE - LONGrORB CASTILE - \^LT^ 
EAIRJL or liMDNOR. 




MODERN GARDENS 



293 



successful unless its designer has analyzed the character- 
istic aspects of nature, no romantic garden by one who 
lacks an appreciation of the picturesque, while to perfect 
the conventional enclosure a sense of scale and pro- 
portion, involving at least a rudimentary knowledge of 
architecture, is equally essential. Finally, a love of 
flowers is the natural foundation on which to build all 
gardens, whether formal or informal. 



r'^^&Q^ 









WOODEN SEAT : ,5H"RUBLANDS/ 



APPENDIX 

ANGLO-SAXON HORTICULTURE 

Before the Norman Conquest the Anglo-Saxons 
showed a fondness for nature, although they had little 
opportunity to cultivate it. Appreciations of the beauty 
of the changing seasons and of the fragrance of the 
flowers were frequently expressed, as in the following 
verses : — 



Swecca swetast 
swylce on sumeres tid 

stincaS on stowum 

stappelum faeste 

wynnum oefter wongum 
wyrta geblowene 
hunig-flowende. 



Faeger fugla reord 
folde geblowen 
geacas gear budon. 



Of odours sweetest 
such as in summer's tide 

fragrance send forth in places 
fast in their stations 
joyously o'er the plains 

blown plants 

honey-flowing. 

— "Exeter Book," p. 178. 

Sweet was the song of the birds 
the earth was covered with flowers 
cuckoos announced the year. 

— " Exeter Book," p. 146. 



But except what they learned from the monks their 
knowledge of horticulture must have been very slight, 
and apart from the monasteries the enclosures where 
they grew plants must have been of the simplest 

295 



296 



APPENDIX 



Anglo-Saxon 
herbs and 
vegetables. 



Flowering 
plants. 



description. That these plants were grown in enclosures 
is evident from the derivation of the words zvyrt-tun 
and wyrt-geard applied to what might perhaps be 
dignified as a garden. Little more of these gardens 
is known, however, than the names of the plants to be 
gleaned from early herbaries. A few of these names 
are in pure Anglo-Saxon, but the majority are of Latin 
origin. The " Herbarium " of Apuleius, written in the 
fourth century, was translated into Anglo-Saxon, and 
was probably considered as an authority about plant-lore. 

Amons vegetables the best known seems to have 
been the leek, as an enclosure for pot-herbs came to 
be ordinarily called the leac-tiin, and a kitchen gardener 
as the leac wcard or leek keeper. The other alliaceous 
plants, we are told, were considered as so many varieties 
of leek and were designated by such names as eune-leak 
or yune-leac, supposed to be the onion, and gar-lcac 
for garlic. Bean and cress are also Anglo-Saxon 
words, but cabbage, peas, turnip, radish, parsley, mint, 
sage, rue, and other herbs, although in use, passed by 
Latin names. 

Long lists of flowering plants might be appended 
from Anglo-Saxon writings. But as they are difficult 
to identify, and probably many of them grew only wild 
or were prized merely for medicinal qualities, they may 
have had no connection with a garden and do not 
help us to imagine its appearance. For the cultivated 



APPENDIX 297 

rose and lily, they adopted the Roman names rose and 
lilie ; the latter appears to have been their favourite 
flower. Among other plants which apparently were 
grown in beds were stithern-wude (southernwood), the 
tur^i-sole (sun-flower) also called sigel-hwerfe (the gem- 
turned) or solseace (from the Latin solsequium), the 
^/c:^r^ (violet), the periwinkle (from the V.2i\\vi. pervinca), — 
the hunig-suckle (honeysuckle), the peony (from the 
Latin pionici), the doeges-eye (daisy), and the laur-beam, 
more likely to have been the bay tree than the laurel. 

The principal enclosure seems to have been dominated Angio-Saxon 

fruits. 

by fruit trees, hence the origin of the words ort-geard^ 
orc-geard, and orcyrd. The apple was the chief fruit 
of the Anglo-Saxons, and known by the Anglo-Saxon 
name ceppcl. The apple tree was called an apuldej^, and 
was divided into two species, — the surmelst apiilder 
or souring apple tree, and the swite apulder or sweeting 
apple tree. An apple orchard was an apulder-tun, and 
from the fruit was pressed ceppel-win or cider. Cherries 
{cyrs-treow or ciris-beam from the Latin cerasus) were 
also favourite trees, and the enclosure especially in- 
tended for them w^as called the cherry-geard. The 
pear (as its names pera and piriga from the Latin pirus, 
imply) was probably received from the Romans, as 
were the peach {persoc-treow from persicarius\ the 
mulberry {mor-bea'in from morus\ the chestnut {cystcfi, 
cyst or cystel-beam from castaned), and perhaps the 



298 APPENDIX 

almond {magdala-b^eow from amygdalus), the fig [fic- 
beam from Jicus\ and the pine {pin-ireow from pinus). 
The small kernels of the pine were used as relishes 
much as we eat olives. The plum has not changed 
its original Anglo-Saxon name, and the nut {/muter) 
is nearly the same. Strawberries and raspberries {strea- 
berige and hyiid-beriges) were also well known to the 
Anglo-Saxons, although perhaps only in their wild 
state. The vine was often cultivated and called the 
win-treow or wine tree, its fruit win-berige or wine- 
berries, and a bunch of grapes, ge-clystre or a cluster.^ 

^ Wright, " History of Domestic Manners." 



APPENDIX 



299 



Forecourt, Ham House 




THE rORTCOURT 
MAW HOUSE 

EARL OF DYSAIFST 



^ 



This forecourt is good in scale and in the proportion 
of its details. The driveway is paved with large stone 
flags, and there are leaden busts in the niches of the wall 
which are in pleasing contrast to the rich red brick. A 
number of plans for forecourts are shown in Blomfield's 
*■ Formal Garden in England." 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 



WORKS REFERRING TO GARDENS 



1. Classic 

2. Medieval 



3. French 

4. Italian 

5. Dutch 



6. English 

7. Miscellaneous 



Classic 
Arnold, B. 

De Graecis florum et arborum 
amantissimis. Gdttingen, 1885. 
Barnabei, Felice. 

La Villa Pompeiana di P. Fannio 
Sinistore Scoperto presso Bo- 
scoreale. Rome, 1901. 
Bottiger, C. A. 

Racemazionen zur Gartenkunst der 
Alten. 
Browne, Sir Thomas. 

The Garden of Cyrus. 1658. 
Castell, R. 

Villas of the Ancients. 1728. 
Cato, M. Porcius. 

De Re Rustica. c. 200 B.C. 
Cicero, M. TuUius. 

De Senectute. c. ist century B.C. 
Columella. 

De Re Rustica : Scriptores Rei 
Rusticae. Leipsic, 1794. 
Comes, Dr. Orazio. j 

Illustrazione delle piante rappre- 
sentate nei dipinti Pompeiani. 
Naples, 1879. 
Dezobrey. 

Rome au siecle d'Auguste. 1846. 
Diodorus Siculus. 

Bibliotheca. c. 50 B.C. 

30 



Falconer. 

Historical View of the Gardens of 
Antiquity. 1785. 
Gregorovius (trans. A. M. F. Robinson). 

The Emperor Hadrian. 
Homer. 

Odyssey, Done into English 
Prose by S. H. Butcher and 
A. Lang. 
Joret, Charles. 

Les Jardins de I'ancienne Egypte. 

1894. 
Les plantes dans Tantiquite et au 

moyen age. 1897. 
La rose dans I'antiquitd et au 
moyen age. Paris, 1892. 
Koch. 

Die Baiime u. Strauchen der Alten 
Griech. 1879. 
Lafaye, Georges. 

Article Hortus in the Dictionnaire 
des antiquitds grecques et ro- 
malnes. 
Magoun, H. W. 

Pliny's Laurentine Villa, Transac- 
tions of the American Philo- 
logical Association. 1895. 
Mangin. 

Histoire des jardins anciens et 
modernes. Tours, 1888. 



302 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 



Mau-Kelsey. 

Pompeii, Its Life and Art. By 
August Mau. Translated into 
English by F. W. Kelsey. New 
York, 1899. 
Meyer, G. 

Lehrbuch der Schbnen Garten- 
kunst. Berlin, 1895. 
Moller. 

Die Botanik in den Fresken 
der Villa der Livia. Mittheil. 
d. k. arch. Inst., Rom. Abth. 
1890. 
Morgan. Thomas. 

Romano-British Mosaic Pave- 
ments. London, 1886. 
Niccolini. 

Le case ed i monumenti di Pom- 
p€i disegnati et descritti. Na- 
ples, 1834. 
Palladius, Rutilius. 

De Re Rustica. 4th or 5th cen- 
tury A.D. 
Plinius, Caius Secundus. 

Natural History, ist century a.d. 
Pliny the Younger. 

Letters, ist century a.d. 
Plutarch. 

Lives. 1st century, a.d. 
Seneca. 

Epistolae. ist century a.d. 
Simonis. 

Ueber die Gartenkunst der Romer. 
Blankenburg, 1865. 
Stengel. 

Hortorum, Florum et Arborum 
Historia. 1650. 
Tacitus. 

Annals. 1st century a.d. 
Temple, Sir William. 

Miscellanea : Upon the Garden of 
Epicurus. 1685. 
Theocritus. 

Idylls. 3d century B.C. 



Theophrastus. 

H istory and Causes of Plants. 4th 
century B.C. 
Varro. M. Terentius. 

De Re Rustica. c. ist century B.C. 
Virgil. 

Georgics. 
Wantig, R. 

Haine u. Garten in Gr. Alt. pr. v. 
Chemnity. 1893. 
Xenophon. 

CEconomicus. c. 5th century B.C. 

Medieval 
Albert the Great. 

De Plantatione Viridariorumque. 
De Naturis Reris. Ed. Thomas 
Wright, London, 1863. 
Chaucer, G. 
Poems. 
De Beauvais, Vincent. 

Speculum. 
De Garlande, Jean. 

Le Menagier de Paris, compost 
vers 1393 par un bourgeois 
Parisian. 
Delisle. Leopold. 

Etudes sur la condition de la agri- 
cole et Tetat de Tagriculture en 
Normandie au moyen age. 
Evreu-x, 1851. 
De Loris, Guillaume. 

Roman de la Rose. c. 1200. 
De Ornatu Mundi. 

Opera ed. de Beaugendre. c. 1189. 
Du Cerceau, Androuet. 

Les plus excellents bastiments de 
France. 1576. 
Dugdale. 

Monasticon. 
Gautier, Leon. 

La Chevalerie. Paris, 1895. 
Lacroix, Paul. 

Moeurs, Usages, et Costume au 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 



303 



Moyen Age et a PEpoque de 
la Renaissance. Paris, 1872. 
Mackenzie, Sir James D. 

The Castles of England. New 
York, 1896. 
Turner, T. H. 

State of Horticulture in England. 
Arch. Journal, Vol. j. 
Walcott. 

Church and Conventual Arrange- 
ment. 
Walter. 

Recueil de fleurs, fruits, etc., peints 
sur velin par Jean Walter de 
Strasbourg, de 1656 k 1665. 
(Bibliotheque Nationale Cabi- 
net des Estampes.) 

Italian 

Colonna, Fra Francesco. 

Hypnerotomachia Poliphili. Ven- 
ice, 1499. 
Falda. 

Giardini di Roma. 
Montaigne, Michel de. 

Journal du voyage de Michel 
de Montaigne en Italie par 
la Suisse et TAllemagne en 
1580 et 1 58 1. Rome et Paris, 

1774- 
Percier et Fontaine. 

Choix des plus c^lebres Maisons 
de Plaisance de Rome et de 
ses environs. 75 plates. Paris, 
1809. 
Piranesi. 

Vedute di Roma. 1765. 
Piatt, Charles A. 

Italian Gardens. 1894. 
Silvestro, Israeli. 

Alcune vedute di Giardini e Fon- 
tane di Roma e di Tivoli. 
Paris, 1646. 



Taine, H. 

Voyage en Italie. Paris, 1884. 
Vitruvius, Pollio M. 

Architectura. Utini, 1 825-1 830. 

Dutch 
Beudeker. 

Germania Inferior. 
Commelyn. 

Hortus Amstelodamus. 1697. 
De Hogue, Romeyn. 

Villa Angiana. 
Hoghenberg. 

Hortorum . . . formae. Koln, 
1665. 
Rademaker, A. 

Holland's Arcadia. 1730. 
Van der Groen, J. 

Le Jardinier des Pays Bas. 1672. 
Van Oesten. 

The Dutch Gardener. 1703. 
Vredeman de Vries, J. 

Hortorum Viridariorumque Ele- 
gantes et Multiplicis Formae. 
Antwerp, 1583. 

French 
Alp hand. 

Les promenades de Paris. Paris, 
1868. 
Andre, £. 

L'Art des Jardins. Paris, 1879. 
Blondel, J. F. 

De la Distribution des Maisons de 
Plaisance. 160 plates. Paris, 

De Serres, Olivier. 

Le Theatre d'Agriculture et mes- 
nage des Champs. Paris, 1603. 
Dezallier d'Argenville, A. J. 

La Theorie et la Pratique du Jar- 
dinage. Paris, 1713. 
Francois, Jean. 

L'Art des Fontaines. 1665. 



304 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 



Galimard, fils. 

Architecture dejardins. 68 plates, 
folio, 1765. 
Gerardin, R. L. 

De la composition des paysages 
et des moyens d"enibellir la 
nature autour des habitations, 
etc., par R. L. Gerardin, vi- 
comte d'Ermenonville. Geneve, 
1777. 
Krafft, J. C. 

Plans des plus beaux Jardins. 1810. 
Laborde, Alexandre de. 

Descriptions des nouveaux jardins 
de la France et des chateaux. 
Paris, 1808. 
Laborde. A. L. 

Descriptions des nouveaux jardins 
de la France. 1808-1821. 
Langlois, N. 

Parterres, 23 plans after Le Notre, 
Le Bouteux, etc. 
Le Blond, A. J. B. 

Engravings of Plans for Gardens. 

1685. 
Parterres de Broderie, 1688. 
Leclerc. 

LeLabyrinthede Versailles. 1679. 
Le Rouge, G. L. 

Details des nouveaux Jardins h. la 

mode. 200 plates. 
Recueil des plus beaux Jardins de 
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English 
Addison, Joseph. 

An Essay on the Pleasures of the 
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The Essayes or Counsels of Fran- 
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305 



St. Albans. Newly enlarged. 
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Later Renaissance in England. 
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3o6 



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Law, Ernest. 

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Observations on the formation of 
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Hints on the formation of Gardens 
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Essays on Landscape Gardening. 
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A garden of Flowers translated out 
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Rea, John. 

Flora, Ceres, et Pomona. Lon- 
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Repton, Humphry. 

A Letter to Uvedale Price, Esq., 
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Observations on the Theory and 
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An Enquiry into the changes in 
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The Subtropical Garden. London, 

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The Wild Garden. London, 1881 . 
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England as seen by Foreigners in 
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The Beauties of Stowe. London, 
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The Nobleman, Gentleman, and 
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A new Boole of Drawings of Gates, 



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1878. 
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Essay on Modern Gardening. 
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A Plan of Mr. Pope's Garden and 

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Miscellaneous 
Attiret-Beaumont . 

An Account of the Emperor of 
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3o8 



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Der Garten, seine Kultur u. 
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A New Booke of Drawings In- 
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Tijou: 1693. Reproduced by 
B. T. Batsford, 1896. 



INDEX 

[Numbers in heavy-faced type indicate references to illustrations.] 



Abbeys, twelfth-century English, 49-5 1' 

57-58- 

Abelard, complaint of Heloise to, con- 
cerning nuns as gardeners, 48. 

Akadamion, park in the, 16. 

Albert the Great, description of medieval 
orchard by, 96-97- 

Albury, grotto at, designed by Evelyn, 

254- . . 

Alcinous, garden of, Homeric description 

of, 13-14; Pliny quoted concerning, 17. 
Alcove at Arley, 188. 
"Alexander, Romance of," garden with 

chess-players from the, 82. 
Alhambra, the, fountains in, 53, 237. 
Alley, a pleached, Hatfield, 117. 
Alleys in Elizabethan gardens, 143-I44. 

See Walks. 
Alpine gardens, 279-280. 
Althorpe, Evelyn's mention of gardens at, 

>95- 
Alviella, Count Goblet d', quoted, 6. 
Amboise, Cardinal d', garden of, 98-99 
Ambulationes in classic gardens, 36. 



Arbour, seat, gallery, and, 92; from the 

" Hypnerotomachia Poliphili," 234. 
Arbours, in mediaeval gardens, 92; in Tu- 
dor period, 105, 116, 123-124; in 
Elizabethan gardens, 145; Dutch, 188, 
250, 251. 
"Arcadia," Sidney's, 128, 156-157. 
Archery. See Games. 
Architects, effective work of, in classic 
gardens, 28-29; the theory of modern 
garden, 282-284. 
Architecture of the Normans, 68. 
Archway, at Castle Ashby, 245; of yew at 

Brockenhurst, 287. 
Ariadne, story of, reproduced on a mosaic 

pavement, 5. 
Arley, buttress of clipped yew at, 154; 
an alcove at, 188; reproduction of 
Elizabethan style at, 289. 
Arran, Earl of, received by Queen Eliza- 
beth in garden at Hampton Court, 
161-162. 
Art, Roman, Greece as the source of new 

forms of, 5. 
"Arte of Gardening," Hill's, 129. 



Ambulatioties in classic gardens, 30. /^^^c ^. ..c..v..... ^, , . 

America, influence of discovery of, on Artichoke garden, Wimbledon 73, 174- 

English horticulture, 132-133. Ascott, topiary work at, 154, 285. 

Amorini, Wilton, 242, 243- Ashridge, outhnes of cloisters at 65 

Animals,in gardens, 33-34, 7^,95; carved, | gardens at, a specimen of Repton s 

in Tudor period, 118, 129; of lead in | style, 269. 

Labyrinth at Versailles, 206. Assassin, origin of the word, 73. 

Annesley, specimen of brick garden wall Asshur-bani-pal feasting, representation 
. _o_ -oc?. „„,.„«t.:.o,,tV,.r-f.ntnfv t-pr- of. on marble slab, 1, n. 



at, 187-188; seventeenth-century ter- 
races at, 197; terrace walk at, 283. 
Apiaries in classic gardens, 33-34- 
Apostles, the twelve, in topiary work, 153, 

154. 
Apple, the, in Bacon's succession of plants, 

151; chief Anglo-Saxon fruit, 297. 
Apuleius, the " Herbarium " of, 296. 
Aquarius, the, in classic Roman villa, 38 



of, on marble slab, 1, n. 

Assyria, gardens of, 9. 

Athens, gardens in ancient, 15-16. 

Atrium, Roman, difference between Gre- 
cian peristyle and, 20; resemblance of 
cloister-garth to, 51. 

Attiret, Fere, "Account of the Emperor 
of China's Gardens near Pekin" by, 
260-261. 



309 



310 



INDEX 



Austria, English landscape gardens in, 

276. 
Aviaries, in classic gardens, 33-34 ; 

twelfth-century, 72 ; in Stuart period, 

175 ; in Chinese gardens, 264. 
Axe of Lycurgus in design of a mosaic 

pavement, 5. 

B 

Babylon, Hanging Gardens of, li. 

Bacon, Francis, suggestions of, for succes- 
sion of plants, 150-153; contempt of, 
for images cut in evergreens, 154; on 
bathing pools, 156; on statuary in 
gardens, 157; account of the wilder- 
ness by, 158-159. 

Badminton, grounds at, 212. 

Bagatelle, tomb of a Pharaoh at, 274. 

Bagnaja, the Villa Lante at, 234, 238-239. 

Balustrading, as enclosure for Elizabethan 
gardens, 139-140, 141 ; modern Eng- 
lish specimens of, 284. 

Banquet, Asshur-bani-pal's, representation 
of, on marble slab, 1, 11. 

Banqueting house, the, in gardens, 116; 
the Elizabethan, 145 ; at Wimbledon, 
176-177; at Drayton, 197. 

Barbazon, editor " Lai d'Aristote," 84. 

Barocco period, the, in Italy, 235, 240. 

Barrow Court, pond in North Garden at, 
290 ; pavilion at, 291 ; gateway antl 
terrace at, 291. 

Barry, Sir Charles, mansions designed by, 
246. 

Bath-houses, idea of, imported into Eng- 
land from Palestine, 75. 

Bathing pools in Elizabethan gardens, 
156. 

Batsford Park, gardens at, 280. 

Battle Abbey, founding of, 57-58 ; terrace 
walk at, 283. 

Baynardes Castle, royal gardens at, 106. 

Beasts, carved, in Tudor gardens, 118; 
heraldic, at entrances to Elizabethan 
gardens, 129, 141. See Animals. 

Beaudesart, restoration of garden at, by 
Repton, 269. 

Beaumont, John, 208 ; work of, at Levens 
and Hampton Court, 211. 

Becket, Thomas a, Fitzstephen's Life of, 
quoted, 80. 



Beckett, fishing-lodge at, 169. 
Beckington, example of garden-house at, 

I9«- 
Beloeil, Prince de Ligne's estate of, 270. 
Benedictines, era of the, 45-47, 49-50. 
Berkeley Castle, 70. 

Bird-cage, at Wimbledon, 175 ; at Mel- 
bourne, 210, 211. 
Birds, in classic pleasure grounds, 33-34 ; 

in twelfth-century gardens, 72 ; in 

gardens of the Stuart period, 175; 

in Chinese gardens, 264. 
Black Friars, the, 61. 
Blenheim, Brown's work shown in gardens 

at, 268. 
Blith, Walter, 167. 
Blois, castle gardens at, 98. 
Blomfield, R., 282, 299. 
Blondel, J. F., " Profils et ornements," 

etc., of, 207. 
Boboli Gardens, the, 239. 
Bog gardens, 280-281. 
Borde, Andrew, works on gardening by, 

108-109; quoted, iio-iii, 112, 119. 
Borders, garden, 225-226. 
Boscoreale, villa rustica at, 21 ; grotto 

and pergola from a wall-painting at, 

32. 
Bosquets at Versailles, 159, 205-206. 
Botanical gardens, herbaria the beginnings 

of, 80; at Oxford, 170; at Kew, 268, 

281. 
Botany, study of, in James I's period, 

168-169. 
Boughton, grounds at, 212. 
Bower, Rosamond's, 82, 94. 
Bowers in English gardens (thirteenth 

century), 92. 
Bowling, popularity of, in seventeenth 

century, 194. See Games. 
Bowling-alley, Brockenhurst, 167. 
Bowling-green, at Berkeley Castle, 70 ; at 

Bramshill, 141 ; at Norton Conyers 

and Levens, 194. 
Bowling-greens, modern English, 141, 

287-288 ; in Stuart period, 194 ; Le 

Blond's advice about, 220. 
Bowood, fountain at, 192 ; terrace at, 246. 
Box, use of, in classic gardens, 23, 35, 36, 

39, 41-42 ; in Tudor gardens, 125; in 

Elizabethan gardens, 145, 147, 149 ; 



INDEX 



311 



sun-dial planted in, 193 ; for elaborate 
topiary work, 285. 

Boy with dolphin, statue of, for fountain, 
234. 

Bradford-on-Avon, the Hall at, lion of 
carved stone at, 129 ; the terrace of, 
141; octagonal garden-house at, 190. 

Bramham, garden at, attributed to Le 
Notre, 208 ; finest specimen of French 
style in England, 210. 

Bramshill, doorway at, 140 ; the terrace 
at, 141, 142 ; octagonal garden-house 
at, 190, 191 ; bowling-green at, 288. 

Brickwall, pool for fish at, 1 19; raised 
walk at, 139. 

Bridge, Palladian, at Wilton, 244. 

Bridgnorth, terrace walk at, 70-71. 

Britain, horticulture in, after conquest of 
Claudius, 2-3 ; disappearance of Ro- 
man culture from, 45. See England. 

" Britannia lUustrata," view of Hampton 
Court in, 209; gardens in French style 
shown in, 211-212. 

British Museum, Britanno-Roman relics 
in, 3 ; Egyptian mural painting in, 
8-9; marble slabs with representations 
o{ paradeisoi in, lo-ii ; classic sun- 
dial in, 17 ; Ms. of the " Roman de la 
Rose " in, 69 ; fourteenth-century 
Flemish Ms. in, 86. 

Brockenhurst, bowling-alley at, 167; arch- 
way of yew at, 287 ; an example of 
French influence, 289. 

Broek, account of, by De Amicis,"253-254. 

Brome Hall, grounds at, 212. 

Brown, "Capability," 122, 258; speci- 
mens of work of, 268-269. 

Brympton, terrace at, 179, 197 ; sun-dial 
at, 197; example of stone balustrade 
at, 284. 

Buckingham, Stafford, Duke of, residence 
of, Thornbury, 103. 

Burghley, Brown's work shown in gardens 
at, 268. 

Burleigh, Lord, Queen Elizabeth enter- 
tained at Theobalds by, 163. 

Bust, a Pompeiian, 25. 

Busts, leaden, at Elvaston, 228 ; at Ham 
House, 299. 

Butcher, S. H., quotation from translation 
of "Odyssey " by, 13-14. 



Buttress of clipped yew, Arley, 154. 
Byron, Lord, and Newstead Abbey, 61, 
62, 267. 



Cambridge, fountain at Trinity College, 
155; doorway at, 236. 

Campo Santo, frescoes on walls of the, 54. 

Camprey Ash, reproduction of Elizabethan 
style at, 289. 

Canons Ashby, garden doorway at, 104; 
lead statue of a shepherd at, 182; a 
garden-seat at, 189, 190. 

Canterbury, twelfth-century plan of, 51. 

Caprarola, the Villa Farnese at, 234, 238. 

Carlisle, Castle, 70. 

Carmontelle, theatric theory of, 274. 

Carthusians, order of the, 60-61. 

Caryatides at the Villa Farnese, 238. 

Casa Nuova, the, at Pompeii, 25-26. 

Casino, the, in classic villas, 29-30. 

Cassiobury, grounds at, 195, 212. 

Castle Ashby, gateway at, 240; archway 
at, 245; vase at, 246; rosary with per- 
gola at, 246; Italian influence shown 
at, 246-247; rustic pergola at, 247; 
Brown's treatment of water at, 269; 
garden-house at, 292. 

Castle, portrayal of a Norman, in the 
" Roman de la Rose," 69; Berkeley, 
70; expansion of grounds of Anglo- 
Norman, 77-78; superseded by private 
dwellings, 101-102. 

Castlemain, Lady, 175. 

Cato, Marcus Porcius, 17, 19, 167; quota- 
tions from, in early English works on 
gardening, 129. 

CaiLx, Isaac de, work of, at Wilton, 240- 

243- 

Cavendish, description of Cardinal Wol- 
sey's gardens by, 105. 

Cerceau, Androuet du, description of last 
mediaeval gardens by, 98. 

Certosa, Florence, a well in the, 55. 

Chabas, Fran9ois, extract from translation 
by, 9. 

Chambers, Sir William, " Dissertations on 
Oriental Gardening" by, quoted, 261- 
264; temples in Royal Botanical Gar- 
dens at Kew designed by, 268. 

Chansons de Gestes, ^t,. 



312 



INDEX 



" Chanson de Roland," quoted, 67. 
Chantilly, an example of rusticity, 274- 

275- 

Charing, royal gardens at, 79. 

Charlemagne, gardens of, 66-67. 
■ Charles II of England, French influence 
on, 208. 

Charleston manor-house, forecourt at, 
136. 

Charlton, example of garden-house at, 
191. 

Chatsworth, garden at, attributed to Le 
Notre, 208. 

Chaucer, quotations from, illustrative of 
thirteenth-century English life, 83-96. 

Cherries, favourite fruit of the Anglo- 
Saxons, 297. 

Chess-players, garden with, from " Ro- 
mance of Alexander," 82. 

Chichester, gateway at, 186. 

Chilham Castle, bowling-green at, 288. 

Chinese, influence of, on English garden- 
ing, 250, 259-266. 

Chipping Camden, garden-house at, 146. 

" Chorle and the Birde," Lydgate's, 81, 89. 

"Chronicles," Holinshed's, 133. 

Cistercians, horticulture in England ad- 
vanced by, 58-59. 

Cisterns in Tudor gardens, 119. 

Clairvaux, Cistercian monastery at, 59-60. 

Clarendon, royal gardens at, 79. 

Clarissa's Walk, Penshurst, 100. 

Claverton Manor, example of balustrading 
at, 140, 284. 

Cleeve Prior Manor, the Twelve Apostles 
in topiary work at, 153, 154. 

Cleveland, Duchess of, gardens of, 58. 

Cloisters, location of, 52-53; Elizabethan 
galleries correspond to, 145. 

Cloister-garth, the monastic, 7, 45, 54, 56; 
resemblance of, to Grecian peristyle 
and Roman atrium, 51. 

Cluny Museum, illustrations from tapes- 
tries in, 75, 90. 

Cokes, the, owners of Melbourne, 210. 

Colonna, Giovanni, influence of, in Italian 
gardening, 233. See " Hypneroto- 
machia Poliphili." 

Columella, 17, 129, 133, 167. 

Column at Wilton, 240; and sun-dial, at 
Old Place, Lingfield, 288, 289. 



" Compleat Gardner," Evelyn's, 212. 

Conservatories, Chinese, 264. See Green- 
houses. 

Cook, Captain, cenotaph to, at Mauper- 
tin, 273. 

Coronet of clipped yew, 116. 

" Country Farm." See " Maison Rus- 
tique." 

"Country Housewife's Garden," knots 
from, 149; knot and maze from, 158. 

Court of the Lions, Alhambra, fountain 
in, 53. 

Courtyards, Egyptian dwellings built 
around a series of, 6; in classic Ro- 
man houses, 20-21, 24. 

Crete, labyrinth of, suggested in a mosaic 
pavement, 5. 

Croquet-grounds, 287. 

Crusaders, innovations due to, in Eng- 
land, 72-73, 75-76. 

Cubicula in classic Roman villas, 30. 

Cupid, statues of, at Melbourne, 208, 231. 

Cyrus the Younger, gardens of, at Sardis, 
12; Pliny quoted concerning, 17. 

D 
Daedalus, house of, alternative name for 

labyrinth, 72. 
Daffodils, Syrian, on site of Horseley 

Castle, 76. 
Dairy, Gothic, at Hoddesdon, 274. 
Damascus, the rose of, 76. 
Danby, Earl of, Oxford botanical garden 

founded by, 170. 
De Amicis, on Dutch gardens, 253-254. 
Deeping, Norman garden at, 68-69. 
Defoe, garden grottoes mentioned by, 

254- 

De Lacey, Earl of Lincoln, market gar- 
dens of, 79-80. 

" De Naturis Rerum," Neckam's, 57; 
Albert the Great's, quoted, 96-97. 

Denton, W., quoted, 79. 

De Serres, Olivier, 137, 139, 199. 

Diana's Pool, Penshurst, 99, 156. 

" Dictionarius," de Garlande's, quoted, 80. 

Diomedes, villa of, near Pompeii, 26-27. 

"Discourse of Husbandrie," etc., Hart- 
lib's, 171. 

" Dissertations on Oriental Gardening," 
Chambers', quoted, 261-264. 



INDEX 



313 



Dodoens, 135. 

Dodona, oak grove of, 14. 

Dog, grave of Byron's, at Newstead Ab- 
bey, 62, 267. 

Dominicans, order of the, 61. 

Doorway, a battlemented, 103; garden, at 
Canons Ashby, 104; garden, at Risley, 
111; at Bramshill, 140; at Oundle, 
141; at Highlow Hall, 168; at Villa 
Madama, 235; at Cambridge, 236; 
at Shrublands, 277. 

Dove-cotes, in Tudor gardens, 110 ; 
Elizabethan, 136. 

Drayton House, pool for fish at, 119; 
sun-dial at, 170; vvrought-iron gates 
at, 188, 195, 196; garden-house at, 
191; stone steps at, 196; perfect speci- 
men of seventeenth-century garden at, 
196-197. 

Du Perac, 199. 

Durand, Guillaume, quoted concerning 
cloisters, 53. 

Dutch, arbours in style of the, 188, 250, 
251; gardens of the, 168, 252-254. 

Dwelling, the castle superseded by the 
private, 101-102; relation of, to the 
garden in Tudor period, 109-111, 123; 
relation of Elizabethan flower-gardens 
to, 137-138; relation of, to garden in 
Stuart times, 1 82-1 83; relation of, to 
garden, according to Le Blond, 216- 
217. 

E 

Eagle Pond at Newstead Abbey, 61, 62. 

Edward I of England, idea of bath-houses 
imported from the East by, 75; cul- 
mination of mediaeval prosperity under, 
78-80. 

Egypt, gardens in ancient, 6-9; idea of 
labyrinths may have come from, 42. 

" Elie de St. Giles," chanson of, 89. 

Elizabeth, Queen, at Hampton Court, 142- 
143, 161-162; general influence of, on 
gardens, 1 62-1 63. 

Elizabethan figures, two, 128. 

Elvaston, topiary work at, 116, 154; ar- 
millary sphere at, 119; leaden busts at, 
228; a classic vase at, 252. 

Enclosure, rustic, classic picture of a, 28; 
of trelliswork, 90. 

Enclosures in Elizabethan gardens, 147. 



England, effect of advent of Normans on, 
49-51, 57-58, 66; close connection of 
France and, in thirteenth and four- 
teenth centuries, 76; effect of dis- 
covery of America in, 132-133; 
evidences of Dutch taste in, 168, 
254; influence of French in seven- 
teenth-century gardens of, 207-208; 
modern Italian influence on gardens 
of, 240-248; romanticism in, 249; 
ideas imported from China into, 250, 
259-266; popularity of landscape gar- 
den of, throughout Europe, 269-270, 
275-277; modern gardens of, 278-293. 

" England in the Fifteenth Century," 
Denton's, quoted, 79. 

English Dialect Society, Tusser's " Hun- 
dreth Good Pointes " edited under 
auspices of, 109. 

" English Flower Garden," Robinson's, 
280. 

Entrances, to Elizabethan gardens, 140- 
141 ; Inigo Jones's, 170; iron gateways 
at, 188. See Gateways. 

Epicurus, garden of, at Athens, 15. 

Ermenonville, the Marquis de Girardin's 
gardens at, 270-273. 

Evans, Arthur, on birds in ancient times, 34. 

Evelyn, John, an authority on English 
seventeenth-century gardens, 167, 171, 
194-196; translation of French works 
on gardening by, 212; grotto at Al- 
bury designed by, 254. 

Evergreens, clipped, use of, in classic gar- 
dens, 39-40; Bacon's opinion of, 154. 

Exedra, sketch plan of a Greek, 15; Greek 
derivation of the word, 18; from street 
of the Tombs, Pompeii, 32; in mediae- 
val gardens, 91-92; at Wilton, 242, 
245. See Seats. 

Exercise, provision for, in classic gardens, 
34-36; Chinese provision for, 264. 
See Games. 

" Exeter Book," quoted, 295. 

Exotics, imported into England by Crusad- 
ers, 75-76; from America, 1 32-133; 
from Holland, 168-169; at the Oxford 
Botanical Garden, 170; in Stuart gar- 
dens, 192-193; in wild gardens, 279, 
280. 

Eyam Hall, Derbyshire, 102. 



314 



INDEX 



Faun, a leaden, at Newstead Abbey.-64. 

Feast, King Asshur-bani-pal's, 1, ii. 

Fence, Ilermes and, 278. 

Fences for enclosing gardens, mediaeval, 
88; Tudor, no; Elizabethan, 140. 

Fiennes, Celia, 170, 173, 194. 

Figures, two Elizabethan, 128. 

Fishing-lodge, Beckett, 169. 

Fish-pond, an Egyptian, 8; in villa of 
Diomedes, 27. 

Fish-ponds, Pompeiian, 25; in mediaeval 
gardens, 72, 93; moats utilized as, 
105; in Tudor gardens, 119; in 
Elizabethan gardens, 156-157; at 
Swallowtield, England, 195-196. 

Fitzstephen, " Life of a Becket," quoted, 
80. 

" Five Hundred Points of Good Hus- 
bandry," Tusser's, quoted, 121. 

"Flora, Ceres, and Pomona," Rea's, 182. 

" Floraes Paradise," Piatt's, 131, 148. 

Florence, a well in the Certosa at, 55; 
fountain at Palazzo Vecchio, 233; 
Boboli gardens at, 239. 

Flowers, varieties of, most used in ancient 
Italy, 40-41 ; Charlemagne's choice 
of, 66; for Elizabethan gardens, 149- 
153; banishment of, from Stuart gar- 
dens, 180-182; in modern English 
gardens, 285. See Plants. 

Flower-beds, plans of, in Tudor gardens, 
114. 

Flower-pot, a classic, 19 ; gate-post, 
Hampton Court, 187. 

Forecourt, the, in Elizabethan gardens, 
136; examples of enclosed, 188; at 
Ham House, 232, 299. 

"Formal Garden in England," Blom- 
field's, 299. 

Fountain, a Pompeiian, 24; pavilion and, 
from the " Hypnerotomachia Puli- 
phili," 26; a Greek, 38; garden and, 
from an eleventh-century manuscript, 
46; in cloisters at Monreale, near 
Palermo, 52; Narcissus at a (" Roman 
de la Rose"), 56; in Pond Garden, 
Hampton Court, 107; at Longleat, 
126-127; at Trinity College, Cam- 
bridge, 155; at Hampton Court, 156, 
192; at liowood, 192; (initial letter). 



232; at Palazzo Vecchio, Florence, 
233; statue of boy with dolphin for a, 
234; at Wilton, 243. 

Fountains, in Egyptian gardens, 6-7; 
Pompeiian, 25, 38-39; in the Alham- 
bra, 53, 237; Gothic, 66, 93; in 
mediaeval gardens, 93-94; at None- 
such, 155; in gardens of Stuart period, 
193-194; at Versailles, 206-207; '"^ 
modern Italian villa gardens, 238-239. 

Framhngham, castle of, 77. 

France, development of pleasaunce in, 71 ; 
close connection of England and, in 
thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, 
76; fruit trees imported into England 
from, 97; the last of the castle gar- 
dens in, 98; influence of, on English 
gardens, 170-171 ; period of ascend- 
ency of, in garden fashions, 198-200 ; 
admiration in, for English landscape 
garden, 269-270. 

Franciscans, order of the, 61. 

Frescoes, Pompeiian, 25; on cloister 
walls, 53-54- 

Friars, orders of, 61. 

Fruits, Anglo-Saxon, 297-298. 

Fruit trees, of French origin, 97; in Tudor 
gardens, 1 13. 



Gaillon, garden of, 98-99. 

Galleries, wooden, in Elizabethan gardens, 
144-145. 

Gallery, seat, arbour, and, 92. 

Games, garden, in mediaeval times, 95; 
in Tudor period, 119-120; accommo- 
dations for, in modern English gardens, 
287. See Bowling (7«r/ Tennis. 

Garden, and fountain, 46; with chess- 
players, 82; original signiikance of 
the word, 86-87; an oblong, 108; a 
square. 111 ; relation between terrace 
and, 142; design for a, by Vriedeman 
de Vries, 144; relation of dwelling to, 
in Stuart times, 1 82-183. 

" Garden of Epicurus," Temple's, quoted, 
10. 

Garden court, a, 128. 

" Gardener's Labyrinth," Hill's, 109; illus- 
tratit)ns from, 108, 111, 117; descrip- 
tion of arbours in, 1 16. 



INDEX 



315 



Garden-house, at Wimbledon, 174; and 
wall at The Orchards, 278; at Castle 
Ashby, 292. 
Garden-houses, at Packwood, 145, 146, 
193, 194; octagonal, at Bradford-on- 
Avon and Bramshill, 190. 
Gardening, early English books on, 107- 

109. 
Garden repast, a, 117. 
Garden seat, at Haddon Hall, 189; at 

Canons Ashby, 189. 
" Garin, Romance of," quoted, 81, 83. 
Garland-makers in a pleasaunce, 66. 
Garland-weavers (from a Greek vase), 14. 
Garland weaving in England (thirteenth 

century), 83-84. 
Garlande, John de, description of bour- 
geois garden by, 80. 
Gate, wrought-iron, at Hampton Court, 

209. 
Gate-post, flower-pot, at Hampton Court, 

187. 
Gateway, garden, at Penshurst, 130; at 
Chichester, 186; at Shrublands, 239, 
at Castle Ashby, 240; and terrace, 
Barrow Court, 291. 
Gateways, at Packwood, 131, 187; intro- 
duction of, in Stuart period, 188; at 
Drayton, 195, 196, 197; at Kew, 197, 
212; by Tijou, 198, 209. 
Gennitings, defined, 15 1 n. 
Gerard, John, quoted, 129-130, 132, 135. 
Germany, landscape gardens in, 276. 
Gestationes, defined, 36. 
Girardin, Marquis de, gardens designed 

by, 270-273. 
Giustiniani, on Henry VHI as a tennis 

player, 120. 
Godalming, gardens near, 292. 
Gods, trees as emblems of, 41. 
Goldsmith, Oliver, on Chinese gardening, 

260. 
Grafting, a craft understood in Middle 

Ages, 97. 
Grafton Manor, dove-cotes at, 110. 
Grave of Byron's dog, Newstead Abbey, 

62, 267. 
Great Tangley Manor, water garden at, 

281. 
Greece, the source of every new form of 
Roman art, 5 ; early gardens of, 12-14; 



later gardens of, 14-17; information 

sought from, by English in Elizabethan 

period, 129. 
Greenhouses, in classic gardens, 33; in 

England in Stuart period, 192. See 

Orangery. 
Gregorovius, quoted concerning Hadrian's 

villa, 43-44- 
" Crete Herbal," the, 108. 
Grille, wrought-iron, at Drayton, 195. 
Groen, J. van der, " Jardinier HoUandais" 

of, 145. 
Grotto, and pergola from a wall-painting 

at Boscorcale, 32; at Wilton, Eng- 
land, 163, 243. 
Grottoes in English gardens, 254-256; 

Chinese, 260. 
Groves, according to Le Blond. 218-219. 
Gunnersbury, Kent's work in garden at, 

268. 

H 

Haddon Hall, the terrace at, 141 ; garden 
seat at, 189. 

Hadrian, villa of, at Tivoli, 43-44. 

Ham House, enclosed forecourt at, 188, 
299; brick garden walls at, 188 ; fore- 
court wall at, 232. 

Hampton Court, royal gardens at, 105, 
106-107, 162 ; banqueting house at, 
116; Queen Mary's Walk at, 117; 
the mount at, 118; carved beasts at, 
118; tennis court at, 120; Henry 
VHI's New Orchard at, 121 ; Queen 
Elizabeth at, 142-143, 161-162; 
water-works device at, 156; exam- 
ples of brick walls at, 187 ; flower-pot 
gate-post at, 187 ; iron gateways at, 
188, 209; fountain at, 192; altera- 
tions at, designed by Le Notre, 208- 
210 ; sun-dial at, 209. 

Hanging gardens, 11-12; in ancient 
Rome, 19-20. 

Hanging Gardens of Babylon, 1 1 ; Pliny 
quoted concerning, 17. 

Harewood, terrace at, 246. 

Harleston, circular dove-cote at, 136. 

Harley-on-Thames, stew-pond at, 65, 

Harrison, 133-135. 

Hartlib, 167 ; "Discourse of Husbandrie 
used in Brabant and Flanders " by, 
171. 



3i6 



INDEX 



Hasheesh, origin of the word, 73. 

Hassan, Prince, garden of, 73-74. 

Hatfield, a pleached alley at, 117, 144 ; 
gardens at, 136, 171-173; paviHons 
at, 172. 

Hatton Grange, stew-pond at, 65. 

Hedges, for enclosing gardens, 88, 1 10, 
123-124, 140; Le Blond quoted con- 
cerning, 226-230 ; in modern English 
gardens, 286. 

Helmingham, moat retained at, 105 ; 
Queen Elizabeth at, 163. 

Helolse, on nuns as gardeners, 48. 

Henry VIH, dissolution of monasteries by, 
65 ; changes in Hampton Court gar- 
dens by, 106-107, J 18; fondness of, 
for tennis, 120. 

Hentzner, at Oxford, 143 ; on gardens at 
Nonesuch, 155-156, 162; description 
of Theobalds by, 163. 

" Herbal," Turner's, 108. 

Herbals of the Tudor period, 107-108, 
129. 

Herbaries, early English, 57. 

Herbs, Anglo-Saxon, 296. 

Hermes, from the " Hypnerotomachia 
Poliphili," 37 ; and fence (initial let- 
ter), 278. 

Hesperides, gardens of the, Pliny quoted 
concerning, 17. 

Highlow Hall, doorway at, 168. 

Hill, Thomas, 109, 130; "Arte of Garden- 
ing" by, 129. 

Hinchinbrooke, grounds at, 212. 

Hippodrome, Greek derivation of the 
word, 18 ; the classic, defined, 34-35. 

" History of Domestic Manners," Wright's, 
cited, 298. 

" History of Life and Death, The," 152 n. 

Hoddesdon, Gothic dairy at, 274. 

Holbein pavilion at Wilton, 243, 244. 

Holborn Hill, market gardens on, 79-80. 

Holdenby House, ponds in grounds of, 

157- 
Holinshed, Ralph, 133. 
Holland, importations into England from, 

168, 252, 254. 
Holland, P., quotations from translation 

of Pliny's "Natural History" by, 10, 

19. 
Holme Lacey, the garden at, attributed to 



Le Notre, 208 ; Le Notre's influence 
apparent at, 21 1. 

Horace, revolt of, against life of pseudo- 
urban villas, 43. 

Horseley Castle, Syrian daffodils on site 
of, 76. 

Horticulture, under the Romans in Britain, 
2-3 ; in primitive Italy merely intended 
for practical purposes, 5 ; Benedictine, 
in England, 45-47, 49-50 ; Cistercian, 
in England, 58-59 ; under Edward I 
of England, 78-80 ; early English 
works on, 107-108, 129; range of, 
increased by discovery of America, 
132-133; in the seventeenth century 
in England, 178-179; Anglo-Saxon, 
295-298. 

" Hortorum Viridariorumque," Vrede- 
man's, 144. 

" Hortus Floridus," de Basse's engravings 
in, 145. 

House. See Dwelling. 

Humanists, the, 233. 

" Hundredth Pointes of Good Husbandrie, 
A," Tusser's, 109. 

Hunstanston, the moat at, 105. 

" Hypnerotomachia Poliphili," the, 27, 
233 ; illustrations from, ix, 22, 26, 27, 
37.39. 115.234, 237. 

I 

Iford Manor, summer-house at, 191. 
Images, in classic Italian gardens, 37; 

cut in evergreen trees, 153-154. 
Impluvium, the Roman, resemblance of 

Christian cloisters to, 51-52. 
Ingestre, house and grounds at, 182. 
Isola Bella, Boboli Gardens, 239. 
Italy, horticulture in ancient, 5; increase 

of pleasure gardens in, crowds out 

other gardens, 18; information sought 

from, in Elizabethan period, 129; 

sixteenth-century villa gardens of, 

234-240. See Rome. 
"Itinerary," Leland's, quoted, 121. 

J 
James I, botanical gardens in reign of, 

168-169. 
James, John, translation of Le Blond's 

work by, 213. 



INDEX 



317 



James, T., an advocate of the formal gar- 
den, 281-282. 

" Jardinier Hollandais," Van der Groen's, 
145; knots from, 181. 

Jekyll, Miss, garden of, 292. 

Jones, Inigo, entrance gateways designed 
by, 170; summer-houses designed by, 
190; urns at Wilton designed by, 243. 

Joret, Charles, quoted concerning monas- 
tic gardens in England, 50. 

June eating, an apple, 151 n. 

Juniper, employed in topiary work, 41, 

153-154. 
Juvenal, 37. 

K 

Kames, Lord, on Kent's methods, 256- 
258. 

Kant, Immanuel, on gardening, 276. 

Kenilworth, terraces at, 142; Queen 
Elizabeth at, 163; description of the 
garden at, 1 64- 166. 

Kent, William, 256-258, 268. 

Kew, old orangery at, 167; iron gateways 
at, 188, 197, 212; temples at, 267, 268, 
277; naturalistic methods employed 
at, 281. 

King's Weston, forecourt at, 136. 

Kitchen garden, ornamental classic Ro- 
man, 28; monastic, in England, 49- 
50; of monastery of St. Gall, 56; 
beautifying of, in Queen Elizabeth's 
time, 159; at Wimbledon, 173. 

Knossos, the traditional labyrinth in pal- 
ace at, 42. 

Knot and a maze, a, 158. 

Knots in gardens, 113, 114, 124, 148, 149, 
163, 181. 

Kouyunjik, marble slabs with representa- 
tions oi paradeisoi from, lO-ll. 

Kratzer, book on sun-dials by, 11 8- 119. 



" La Belle Oriande," Maugis and, 91. 

Labyrinth, of Crete, suggestion of, in a 
mosaic pavement, 5; from a Cretan 
coin, 42; derivation of idea of the, 42; 
in mediaeval gardens, 72, 93-94; in 
Tudor gardens, 1 15; in EHzabethan 
gardens, 158; at Wimbledon, 175- 
176; at Versailles, 205, 206. 



Ladies' Walk, the, in Norman castles, 70. 

" Lai d'Aristote," 84. 

Landscape garden, the, 249-250; popular- 
ity of, in Europe, 269-270, 275-277. 

Lang, Andrew, quotation from translation 
of "Odyssey" by, 13-14. 

La Quintinie, parterre at Versailles de- 
signed by, 205; work of, in England, 
208; English translation of works of, 
212. 

" L'Art des Jardins," Riat's, quoted, 8, 
71-72, 200-201. 

Lawson, William, " A New Orchard and 
Garden" by, 131, 159-161; on garden 
mounts, 147; on flowers for Eliza- 
bethan gardens, 149- 1 50; on topiary 
work, 154. 

Leasowes, the Sentimental Farm at, 267. 

Le Blond, A., " The Theory and Practice 
of Gardening " by, quoted, 213-224, 
226-231. 

Le Brun, 201, 202. 

Leeds Castle, bath-house near, 75. 

Legendre, English translation of works 
of, 212. 

Le Gentil, Francois, 212. 

Leicester, mosaic pavement found near, 4. 

Leicester, Earl of, garden of, at Kenil- 
worth, 164-166. 

Leland, John, 102; quoted concerning 
sixteenth-century topiary work, 121. 

Le Notre, 159, 201 ; influence of, on 
English gardens, 170-171; sketch of 
career of, 202; style of, 202-203; 
English gardens attributed to, 208. 

" Les Delices de la Grande Bretagne," 
212. 

" Les Jardins," Abbe de Lille's, 270. 

" Les Plus Beaux Bastiments de France," 
du Cerceau's, 98. 

Levens, example of forecourt at, 136, 188; 
topiary work in gardens at, 153; as an 
example of Elizabethan planting, 166; 
enclosed forecourt at, 18S; bowHng- 
green at, 194; sun-dial at, 211; work 
of French gardeners at, 21 1. 

" Libellus de Re Herbaria," Turner's, 108. 

Liger, Louis, 212. 

Eigne, Prince de, as a gardener, 270 ; on 
the Little Trianon, 275. 

Ligorio, Pierio, 235, 237. 



3i8 



INDEX 



Lille, Abbe de, praise of pictorial side of 

English gardens by, 270. 
Lily, favourite Anglo-Saxon flower, 297. 
Lion of carved stone, 129. 
Little Trianon, the, 264, 275. 
London, Henry, 122, 208; translations by, 

of French works, 212. 
Longford Castle, statuary at, 247, 248. 
Longleat, the garden at, 121-122, 139, 

212; a pavilion at, 122. 
Loris, Guillaume de, chief author of 

" Romance of the Rose," 85. 
Lorraine, Claude, painting of temple at 

Tivoli by, 249, 269. 
Losely, the moat at, 105. 
Louis XIV of France, influence of, on 

gardening, 199-202. 
Lucan, villa of, sculpture at, 37. 
Lycurgus, axe of, in design of a mosaic 

pavement, 5. 
Lydgate, John, " Chorle and the Birde " 

of, 81, 89. 
Lykeion, park in the, 16. 

M 

Macer, translation of herbal of, 108. 

" Maison Rustique," the, quoted, 131, 
137-138; list of flowers for Eliza- 
bethan gardens from, 149-150. 

Mandelso, mention of mount at Theo- 
■ balds by, 146. 

Mandeville, Sir John, description of an 
Oriental garden by, 74-75. 

Mansart, pavilions at Versailles designed 
by, 206. 

Marais, the, at Versailles, 205, 206. 

Marco Polo, description of Oriental gar- 
den by, 73. 

Marfontaine, monument at, 273-274. 

Marie Antoinette, the Little Trianon of, 
264, 275. 

Markham, Gervase, 135, 167; translation 
of " Maison Rustique " by, quoted, 
131; on the divisions of a garden, 
137; on plan of Elizabethan garden, 
138-139; recommends earthen wall 
for enclosing gardens, 140; on width 
of walks, 143; description of Eliza- 
bethan arbours by, 145; on knots, 148. 

Marly, gardens at, 200, 203. 

Marmier, Xavier, quoted, 276, 



Martial, revolt of, against life of pseudo- 
urban villas, 43. 

Matius, the reputed inventor of clipped 
evergreen trees and shrubs, 39. 

Maugis and " La Belle Oriande," 91. 

Maupertin, Coligny's grave at, 273. 

Mawson, T. \V., 282. 

May, Hugh, Pepys' talk with, 180. 

Maze, the, religious significance of, 94-95; 
in gardens of Tudor times, 115; a knot 
and a, 158; at Wimbledon, 1 75-1 76. 
See Labyrinth. 

Mede, the flowery, 85-S6, 90. 

Melbourne, the bird-cage at, 175, 210; 
Cupids at, 208, 231 ; garden in French 
style at, 210-21 1; topiary work at, 
284. 

Melo-cotone, defined, 151 n. 

Melville, Lord, received by Queen Eliza- 
beth in Hampton Court garden, 162. 

Mereville, cenotaph to Captain Cook at, 

273- 
" Migration des Symboles," d'Alviella's, 

quoted, 6. 
Milstrak, island of, reputed garden on, 74. 
Milton, dove-cotes at, 110. 
Minotaur, story of the, reproduced on a 

mosaic pavement, 5. 
Moats for enclosing gardens, 89, 140; 

disuse of, 104-105. 
Mollet, Andre, 199. 
Monk reading, a, 45. 
Monks, gardens of the, 45-66. 
Monreale, fountain in cloisters at, 52, 93. 
Montacute, 101; location of garden at, 

136; example of balustrading at, 140; 

garden-house at, 146. 
Mordaunt, Lord, owner of Drayton, 196- 

197. 
Mordaunt, Mary, Baroness, 197. 
Morris, William, formal garden champi- 
oned by, 282. 
Mosaic, domestic pets represented on a 

Pompeiian, 34. 
Mosaic pavement found near Leicester, 4. 
Mount, the, development of, in Tudor 

period, 118; in Elizabethan gardens, 

146-147. 
Mount Morris, forecourt at, 136. 
Muntham, reproduction of garden in 

Elizabethan style at, 289. 



INDEX 



319 



Musea, defined, 32. 

Museum. See British Museum, Cluny 
Museum, South Kensington Museum. 

N 
" Names of Herbes," Turner's, 108. 
Narcissus at a fountain (" Roman de la 

Rose"), 56. 
"Natural History," Pliny's, quoted, 10, 

19; flowers specially mentii)ned in, 41. 
Neckam, Alexander, on gardens, 108. 
New College garden, Oxford, sun-dial in, 

193- 

New Orchard, Henry VIH's, at Hampton 

Court, 121. 
" New Orchard and Garden, A," Law- 
son's, 131. 
Newstead Abbey, description of, 61-65; 

Byron's dog's grave at, 62, 267; statues 

at, 64, 66. 
Nightingales, Lawson quoted concerning, 

161. 
Nonesuch, royal garden at, 106, 162; 

water-works devices at, 155. 
Normans, effect of advent of, in England, 

57-58, 66. 
Norton Conyers, bowling-green at, 194. 
Nuneham, specimen of Brown's work in 

gardens at, 268. 
Nun Moncton, garden-house at, 19 1. 
Nuns, gardens made by, 47-48. 

O 
Obelisks in English seventeenth-century 

gardens, 192-193. 
" Observations on Landscape Gardening," 

Repton's, 259. 
" Odyssey," description in, of garden of 

Alcinous, 13-14. 
" Of Agriculture," Varro's, quoted, 32-33. 
Old Man of the Mountain, the (Prince 

Hassan), 73. 
Old Place, Lingfield, sun-dial at, 288, 289. 
" On Gardens," Bacon's essay, quoted, 

156; account of wilderness in, 158- 

159- 
Orangery, the, at Longleat, 126; the old, 

at Kew, 167; at Wimbledon, 192; at 

Drayton, 196; at Versailles, 204-205; 

at Wilton, 245. 
Orchard, at Clairvaux, 59-60 ; at New- 



stead, 64 ; identity of garden and, in 
Middle Ages, 67, 96-97 ; in Tudor 
period, 121 ; in Queen Elizabeth's 
time, 159-161; at Swallowtield, 195; 
derivation of the word, 297. 

" Orchard and Garden," Lawson's, quoted, 
159-161. 

Orchards, The, garden-house and wall at, 
278; garden at, 292. 

Ornaments, garden, in Elizabethan times, 
157; in late seventeenth century, 192- 

193- 

" Ortus Sanitatus," the, 107. 

Oundle, doorway at, 141. 

Oxford, sun-dials at, 119, 193; walks at, 
143; botanical garden at, 170; artifi- 
cial bog at, 280. 

Oxford, Earl of, Sidney's quarrel with, 
158. 



Packwood, gateway at, 131, 187, 188; 
garden-houses at, 145, 146, 193, 194; 

topiary work at, 146, 153-154; sun- 
dial at, 191. 

Paintings, mural, of Egypt, 8-9. 

Palazzio Vecchio, Florence, fountain at, 
233. 

Palestine, idea of bath-houses imported 
into England from, 75. 

Palisades for enclosing gardens, 1 88. 

Paradeisoi, the Grecian, 10. 

Paradise, the Oriental, 10-12; of Sardis, 
12; in monastic cloisters, 54; of the 
Old Man of the Mountain, 73-74. 

Pare Monceau, rusticity at, 274-275. 

Parkinson, John, " Theatrum Botanicum " 
of, 169, 171. 

Parnassus Mount at Whitehall, 146. 

Parterre, design for a, xi ; geometric pat- 
tern for a, 27; geometric patterns of, 
at Battle Abbey gardens, 58 ; at New- 
stead Abbey, 62; in Tudor gardens, 
124-125; in Elizabethan gardens, 153- 
157; according to Le Blond, 21 7-218; 
French fashions in, 224-225. See 
Xystus. 

Passe, Crispin de, engravings by, 145. 

" Pastime of Pleasure," Hawes', 84, 89. 

Pater, Walter, quotation from translation 
of Theocritus by, 16-17. 



320 



INDEX 



Pattern for a parterre, from the " Hyp- 

nerotomachia Poliphili," 22. 
Patterns for knots, 114. 
Pavilion, and fountain, 26; at Longleat, 

122; of Venetian garden, 233; the 

Holbein, at Wilton, 243; at Barrow 

Court, 291. 
Pavilions, at Hatfield, 172; of the Stuart 

period, 190-191; in Chinese gardens, 

264. 
Peaches, first mention of, in England, 79; 

imported into England from abroad, 

97- 

Peacocks, in gardens, 34, 72; as watch- 
dogs, 1 09- 1 10. 

Peele, George, recitation of masque written 
by, 163. 

Pekin, imperial gardens at, 260-261. 

Penshurst, Diana's Pool at, 99, 156; gar- 
den gates at, 130; leaden urn at, 207; 
sun-dial at. 288. 

Pepys, Samuel, quoted concerning gar- 
dens, 180. 

Percier and Fontaine, 236, 237. 

Pergola, grotto and, from a wall-painting 
at Boscoreale, 32; rosary with, at 
Castle Ashby, 246; rustic, at Castle 
Ashby, 247 ; at Longford Castle, 248. 

Peristyle, the, in Greek and Roman 
houses, 14, 20-21, 25; Greek deriva- 
tion of the word, 18; resemblance of 
cloister-garth to, 51. 

Persea fruit defined, 9 n. 

Persia, gardens of, 9-12. 

Petit Trianon, the, 264, 275. 

Pets, domestic, from a Pompeiian mo- 
saic, 34; mediaeval, 90. 

Philosophers, gardens of Greek, 15-16; 
"thinking-places" for Roman, 32. 

"Philosophical Transactions," the, 167. 

" Picciola," the Italian story, 70. 

Piccolomini, .'Eneas Silvias, 233. 

"Piers Plowman," quoted, 88. 

Pisa, fourteenth-century frescoes at, 54. 

Pitti Palace, Boboli Gardens at, 239. 

Plan of garden from Worlidge's " Systema 
Horticulture," 185. 

Plant, a potted, 101. 

Plants, of Tudor gardens, I13-114; Ba- 
con's list of, 150-153; Anglo-Saxon, 
296-297. See Flowers. 



Plato, garden of, 15. 

Piatt, Sir Hugh, " Floraes Paradise " of, 
131 ; quoted, 148; suggestion for 
fanciful ornament by, 157. 

Pleasaunce, garland-makers in a, 66; de- 
velopment of, from the terrace walk, 

71- 

Pliny (the Elder), quoted concerning 
Syrians as gardeners, 10; concerning 
garden of Epicurus at Athens, 15; 
concerning ancient admiration for gar- 
dens, 17; on prevalence of ornamental 
vegetation in Rome, 19; ilowers men- 
tioned by, on account of curative 
properties, 41. 

Pliny (the Younger), Tusculan villa of, 
22-24; descriptions by, of various 
features of his villa, 29-31, 35-36. 

Poitiers, nunnery garden at, 47. 

Pompeii, table from, 20; a fountain at, 
24; pseudo-urban villas at, 24-25; 
a bust from, 25; exedra from street 
of the Tombs at, 32 ; fountains at, 
38; labyrinth sketched on a wall at, 42. 

Pond, an Egyptian, 8; the Eagle, at New- 
stead Abbey, 61, 62; in North Gar- 
den, Barrow Court, 290. See Fish- 
ponds. 

Pond Garden at Hampton Court, 105, 
106, 112. 

Pope, Alexander, grotto built by, 255- 
256. 

Posterns for gardens, iio-iii, 174. 

Priapus, images of, in classic Italian gar- 
dens, 37-38. 

Privy Garden at Hatfield, 171. 

" Profils et ornements," etc., Blondel's, 
207. 

" Profitable Arte of Gardening," Hill's, 
109. 

Provence, the rose of, 76. , 



Quarters, of a knot, 113; in the plan of 
Tudor gardens, 114, 124; in Eliza- 
bethan gardens, 147-148. 

Queen Mary's Walk, Hampton Court, 117. 

Quince, an Elizabethan variety of, 151 n. 

Quincunx du Midi, the, 205. 

Quintilian, quoted concerning ornamental 
kitchen gardens, 28. 



INDEX 



321 



R 

Rabbits in gardens, 148. 

Raphael, Villa Madama designed by, 234, 
235-236. 

Rapinus, quoted, 193. 

Rea, John, 171; protest of, against ban- 
ishment of flowers from Stuart gar- 
dens, 180-182; "Rora, Ceres, and 
Pomona " of, 182; on walls for enclos- 
ing gardens, 187; recommendation of, 
on garden-houses, 191. 

" Records of the Past," extract from se- 
lection in, 9. 

Relics, Britanno-Roman, 3-5. 

Repton, Humphry, 258-259, 268, 269. 

"Retired Gardner, The," Liger's, 212. 

Riat, Georges, quoted, 8, 71-72, 200-201. 

Richmond Court, gardens at, 178; grotto 
at, 254. 

Risley, garden doorway at, 111. 

Robinson, William, advocate of the wild 
garden, 279-280. 

Rock garden, the, 280. 

" Romance of Alexander," a garden with 
chess-players from the, 82. 

"Romance of Garin," quoted, 81, 83. 

" Romance of the Rose," light on mediae- 
val gardens shed by, 85-86; enclosure 
of trelliswork from the, 90; birds men- 
tioned in, 95-96. 

Romano, Giulio, 236. 

Romanticism in gardening, 249, 266-274. 

Rome, gardens of classic, 17; sun-dial 
brought from Sicily used in, 18. See 
Villa. 

Rosamond's bower, 94. 

Rosary, the, Ashbridge, 269; with per- 
gola, at Castle Ashby, 246, 247. 

Rose, the Rhodian,41; high esteem for, in 
mediiEval church, 46; eighth -century 
reappearance of, 75-76. 
Rose, John, royal gardener, 208. 
Rosemary, use of, in topiary work, in an- 
cient Italy, 41. 

" Roseto," St. Benedict's, 46. 
Rousham, gardens at, 268. 
Rousseau, J. J., quoted concerning a false 
taste for grandeur, 251-252; an ad- 
mirer of English landscape garden, 
269; grave of, 270-271, 272. 
Rushton, garden-house at, 146. 



Russia, English landscape gardens in, 276. 
Rustic enclosure, classic picture of a, 28. 



St. Augustine, new era in Britain marked 
by coming of, 45-47. 

St. Benedict, the " roseto " of, 46. 

St. Bernard, monastery of Clairvaux 
founded by, 58-59. 

St. Bruno, originator of Carthusian order, 
60. 

St. Catherine's Court, location of gardens 
at, 136; garden terraces at, 139; 
walks at, 143. 

St. Cloud, gardens at, 200, 203. 

St. Gall, monastery of, 55-57. 

St. James's Park, designed by Le Notre, 
208. 

St. Radegonde, nunnery garden con- 
structed by, 47. 

"Salle de Bal," the, at Versailles, 205, 
207. 

Sandwell, example of forecourt at, 136. 

Sans Souci, gardens at, 276. 

Sculpture, use of, in classic gardens, 37. 

Seat, arbour, and gallery, 92; trees and, 
at Wilton, 241 ; stone, at Shrublands, 
245 ; of Italian design, at Shrublands, 
293. 

Seats, in Stuart gardens, 190; at Haddon 
Hall and Canon Ashby, 189. See 
Exedra. 

Sedding, John, 277, 282. 

Sedgwick Park garden, 289-290. 

Seneca, quoted concerning hanging gar- 
dens in Rome, 19-20. 

Sentimental Farm, Shenstone's, 267. 

Serapis, copy of temple of, at Hadrian's 
villa, 44. 

Sermon on the Mount, the, in topiary 
work, 146, 153-154- 

" Seven Sages, The," Weber's, quoted, 
77-78. 

Severn End, two-story garden-house at, 
192. 

Shenstone, William, " Unconnected 
Thoughts on Gardening " by, 266-267. 

Shrub in ornamented box, 237. 

Shrublands, chestnut trees at, 65 ; terrace 
steps at, 140; covered walk at, 143, 
144; sun-dial at, 157; gateway at, 



322 



INDEX 



239; vase at, 244; stone seat at, 245; 
Italian garden at, 245-246; doorway 
at, 277; seat of Italian design at, 293. 

Shrubs in modern English gardens, 2S5. 

Side-door to a garden, 174. 

Sidney, Sir Philip, 128, 158; description 
of fish-pond by, 156-157. 

Silvestre, Israel, engraving by, 206. 

" .Solitary or Carthusian Gardener, The," 
Le Gentil's, 212. 

South Kensington Museum, fountain de- 
picted in tapestry at, 93. 

Sphere, an armillary, 119. 

Stafford, Edward, residence of, 103. 

"Staffordshire," Plot's, 182. 

Statuary, in classic Roman gardens, 37- 
38 ; in Elizabethan gardens. Bacon's 
opinion of, 157 ; in English seven- 
teenth-century gardens, 192-193 ; 
at Versailles, 207; Le Blond on, 
230-231; at Longford Castle, 247; 
in modern English gardens, 288. 

Statues, leaden, at Newstead Abbey, 64, 
65; at Canons Ashby, 182. 

Steps, stone, at Drayton, 196. 

Stowe, gardens at, 268. 

Strabo, dimensions of terraces in Hang- 
ing Gardens of Babylon given by, 1 1. 

Subiaco, St. Benedict's " roseto " at, 46. 

Sudeley Castle, gardens at, 100. 

Sun-dial, a classic, 17; at Whitehall, 
155; at Shrublands, 157; at Drayton, 
170, 197; at Packwood, 191; at 
Brympton, 197; at Hampton Court, 
209; at Levens, 211; an eighteenth- 
century, 250; at Penshurst, 288; at 
Old Place, Lingfield, 288. 

Sun-dials, stone, at Pompeii, 25; illustra- 
tions of, 157, 167; English interest in 
(sixteenth century), 118-I19; at Ox- 
ford, 119, 193. 

Sun-traps at Barrow Court, 291. 

Surflet, translation of " Maison Rustique " 
by, quoted, 137-138. 

Surprise fountains, 1 55- 1 56. 

Surveys, Parliamentary, 173, 191. 

Sutton Court, grotto at, 254. 

Swallowfield, Evelyn's description of gar- 
dens at, 195-196. 

Swanopston Hall, examples of posterns 
for gardens at, ill. 



Symmetry in gardens, abuse of, 250-252. 

Syracuse, hanging gardens at, 12. 

" Systema Horticulture or Art of Garden- 
ing," Worlidge's, 182; plan of garden 
from, 185. 

T 

Table, a Pompeiian, 20. 

Tacitus, on horticulture in Great Britain, 3. 

" Tale of the Garden of Flowers, The," 
extract from, 9. 

Tapestries, in Cluny Museum, 75, 90; at 
South Kensington Museum, 93. 

Tattershall, castle of, 77. 

Tel-el-Amarna, engraving on the tomb of, 

7-8. 

Temple, Sir William, quoted concerning 
the Oriental Paradise, 10. 

Temple of /Eolus at Kew, 267. 

Temple of the Sun, Kew, 268. 

Temple at Tivoli, Lorraine's painting of, 
249. 

Temples, garden, 268, 269, 270, 277. 

Tennis in Queen Elizabeth's time, 158. 
See Games. 

Tennis-courts, modern English, 287. 

Tents, idea of, as accessories to gardens, 
due to Crusaders, 75. 

Terrace, and bowling-green, at Bramshill, 
141; relation between garden and, 
142; at Brymptim, 179; at Bowood, 
246; at Harewood, 246; gateway and, 
at Barrow Court, 291. 

Terrace architecture, modern English, 
283-284. 

Terraces, of Hanging Gardens of Baby- 
lon, 1 1 ; of Anglo-Xorman castles, 70- 
71; at St. Catherine's Court, 139; in 
connection with Elizabethan houses, 
141-142; at Hatfield, 172; seven- 
teenth-century, at Brympton and 
Annesley, 179, 197; Le Blond's 
theory of, 223-224. 

Terrace steps, Shrublands, 140. 

Terrace walks, 70-71, 283. 

Tessahv, in mosaic pavements, 4. 

TheStre d'Eau, the, at Versailles, 205, 
206-207. 

" Theatrum Botanicum," Parkinson's, 169. 

Thebes, hanging gardens at, 12. 

Theobalds, Hentzner's description of, 
163-164; exchanged by Earl of Salis- 



INDEX 



323 



bury for Hatfield, 172; gardens at, 
177-178. 

Theocritus, idyllic description of a Grecian 
garden by, 16-17. 

Theophrastus, garden of, at Athens, 15-16. 

"Theory and Practice of Gardening, The," 
Le Blond's, 213; quoted, 213-214, 
226-231. 

Theseus, story of, reproduced on a mosaic 
pavement, 5. 

Thibaut IV, Count, rose of Provence in- 
troduced to Europe by, 76. 

Thomas, F. Inigo, 282; work of, at Bar- 
row Court, 290-291. 

Thornbury, residence of Duke of Bucking- 
ham at, 103-104. 

Thorney Abbey, description of, 50-51. 

Thorpe, John, Hatfield House built by, 
171 ; Elizabethan wing at Drayton 
attributed to, 196. 

Tijou, gates by, 198; at Hampton Court, 
209. 

Tissington, example of posterns for gar- 
dens at. III. 

Tivoli, Hadrian's villa at, 24, 43-44; the 
Villa d'Este at, 235, 237-238; the 
temple at, 249, 269. 

Tombs in gardens, 267, 270-271, 273-274. 
Topiarius, the, in classic Roman villas, 39. 

Tower of London, royal gardens at, 79, 
106. 

Towns, mimic, of the Chinese, 265. 

Tradescants, the, distinguished botanists, 
169. 

" Travels," Sir John Mandeville's, quoted, 

74-75- 
Trees, clipped, 39, 93, 115; as emblems 

of gods, 41 ; and seat, at Wilton, 240. 
Tree worship, 6, 14-15, 34, 37. 
Trellisvvork, enclosure of, 90; in Tudor 

gardens, 105, 115-116. 
Trentham, Brown's work shown in gardens 

at, 268. 
Tribolo, gardens designed by, 239. 
Triclinii in classic Roman villas, 31. 
Trinity College, Cambridge, fountain, 155. 
Turner, William, herbals by, 108. 
Tusser, Thomas, work on gardening by, 

109; quoted, 121. 
Twelve Apostles in topiary work, 153, 154. 
Twickenham, Pope's grotto at, 255-256. 



U 
"Unconnected Thoughts on Gardening," 

Shenstone's, 266-267. 
Urn, a leaden, at Penshurst, 207. 
Urns by Inigo Jones, at Wilton, 243. 



Vanbrugh, Sir John, work of, in gardens 

at Stowe, 268. 
Varro, M. T., 17, 32-33, 167. 
Vase, garland-weavers from a Greek, 14; 

(initial letter), 198; at Wilton, 241; 

at Shrublands, 244; at Castle Ashby, 

246; at Longford Castle, 248; a classic, 

at Elvaston, 252. 
Vases, at Versailles, 207; Le Blond on, 

231- 

Venantius Fortunatus at the Poitiers nun- 
nery, 47. 

Verrochio, a fountain by, 233. 

Versailles, gardens at, 200; detailed de- 
scription, 203-207. 

Vettii, house of the, at Pompeii, 25-26. 

"Views," Badeslade's, 212. 

Vignola, villas designed by, 234-235, 238- 

239- 

Villa, the younger Pliny's Tusculan, 22-24; 
ideas adopted from, in Villa Madama, 
236. 

Villa Albani, ideas from, at Castle Ashby, 
246-247. 

Villa d'Este, the, 235, 237; ideas adopted 
from, at Shrublands, 245. 

Villa of Diomedes near Pompeii, 26-27. 

Villa Farnese, caryatides at, 238. 

Villa of Hadrian at Tivoli, 24, 43-44. 

Villa Lante, the, 234, 238-239. 

Villa Livia, wall decoration at the, 29. 

Villa Madama, designed by Raphael, 234, 
235-236; doorway at, 235. 

Villa Pamphili-Doria, the, 235, 240. 

Villages, miniature, 265, 275. 

Villas, Roman, 21-29; fragments- of, in- 
corporated into monasteries, 47 ; Gallo- 
Roman, 66; sixteenth-century Italian, 
234-240. 

" Villas pres de Rome," Percier and Fon- 
taine's, 236, 237. 

Vines in modern English gardens, 286, 

Vinet, 139. 

Violets, Armenian, in England, 76. 



xSSG 198 



324 



INDEX 



Vicllet le Due, description by, of eleventh- 
century religious development, 4S-49; 
quoted concerning Western cloisters 
and the Roman impluvium, 51-52. 

Virgil, 17, 152 n., 271. 
Viridarium, the, in Roman houses, 20. 

Vitruvius, 18, 24, 26. 

" Vitruvius Britannicus,'" gardens in French 
style shown in, 212. 

Vredeman de Vries, J., garden court de- 
signed by, 128; garden designed by, 
144; " Hortorum Viridariorumque " 
of, 144. 

W 

Walk, a covered, at Shrulilands, 143, 144. 

Walks, medieval terrace, 70-71; in 
Elizabethan gardens, 142-143; in 
Stuart gardens, 188-189; Le Blond's 
advice on, 219; French fashions in, 
225-226; in modern gardens, 2S3. 

Wall at The Orchards, 278. 

Walls for enclosing gardens, 88, 1 10, 140, 
186-188. 

Walpole, Horace, 197, 256. 

Wanstead, royal gardens at, 106. 

Wardens, a kind of pear, 151 n. 

Water-works, classic Italian, 38; in med- 
iaeval gardens, 93-94; in Tudor Gar- 
dens, 119; fanciful devices in, in 
Elizabethan gardens, 1 55-156; in gar- 
den? of Stuart period, 193-194 ; at Ver- 
sailles, 206-207; at Bramham, 210; at 
Villa d'Este, 237; in modern Italian 
villa gardens, 238-239. See Fountains. 

Weber, " The Seven Sages " of, 77-78. 

Well, a Gothic, 54; in the Certosa, Flor- 
ence, 55. 

Wells, monastic, 54-55. 

Westminster, royal gardens at, 79, 106. 

Whitehall, royal gardens at, 106, 162; 
pavilion in old gardens at, 146; the 
mount at, 146-147; water-works con- 
trivance at, 155-156. 

Wilderness, the, in Queen Elizabeth's 
time, 158-159; at Wimbledon, 175-176. 

William of Malmesbury, description of 
Thorney Abbey by, 50-51. 

William the Conqueror, abbeys founded 
by, in England, 49, 57-58. 

Wilton, Queen Elizabeth at, 163; descrip- 
tion of old Italian gardens at, 240-243; 



present grounds at, 243-245; the 
grotto at, 254. 

Wimbledon, gardens, 173; orangery, 192. 

Windsor, banqueting house at, 116; royal 
gardens at, 162. 

Wirtemberg, Duke of, at Hampton Court, 
156, 162. 

Wise, Henry, 122; gardens at Melbourne 
laid out by, 210-21 1; translations by, 
of French works, 212. 

Witkendus, an authority on sun-dials, 1 19. 

Wollaton, grounds at, 212. 

Wolsey, Cardinal, gardens of, 105. 

Woodstock, Queen Eleanor's pleasaunce 
at, 82; Rosamond's bower at, 94. 

Worcester, Bishop of, quoted, 63. 

Worlidge, John, 171; on fountains, 126- 
127; quoted concerning seventeenth- 
century gardens, 178-179; " Systema 
Horticultura;, or Art of Gardening " of, 
182; on form of gardens, 183-186; 
plan by, 185; method of making walks 
recommended by, 189 ; on garden 
seats, 190. 

Wotton, Sir Henry, quoted on relation 
between garden and terrace, 142. 

Wren, Sir Christopher, summer-houses 
designed by, 190. 

Wreshill Castle, the orchard at, 121. 

Wrest Park, gardens at, 21 1. 

Wright, Thomas, " History of Domestic 
Manners " of, cited, 298. 

X 

Xenophon, quoted concerning the Para- 
dise of Sardis, 12. 

Xystus, difference between Greek and 
Roman meaning of, 18; good example 
of, in Pompeiian house of the Vettii, 
25; use of ornamental designs for, 40. 

Y 

Yew, lightly esteemed in ancient Italy, 
41; hedges of, 88, 124, 125; coronet 
of clipped, 116; buttress of clipped, 
at Arley, 154; archway of, at Brocken- 
hurst, 287 ; for elaborate topiary work, 
284-285. 

York Place, royal gardens at, 106. 

Young, Arthur, description of Ermenon- 
ville by, 272-273. 



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